Home is where the heart is
by Rlybro
Summary: The Voltron team is FINALLY going home! - In which Lance finally get to see his family again, the family and team bonds, and the Keith and Lance are stuck as roommates.
1. Chapter 1

_They were going home._

Finally, after overthrowing an empire, flying multiple magical space lions, and becoming one of the faces of the rebellion, Lance was going back to Earth.

He just wished that they didn't have to take so many detours. Sure, Lance understood that it was important to inform their allies of what'd happened, and of course, they had to pick up Matt from the rebel base. But you couldn't blame Lance for being impatient. He was _so close_ to being back into his mother's arms again, and every stop on their way back frustrated him to no end.

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Lance sat in the corner of the rebel base' common room, playing with Cosmo. He still couldn't believe Keith managed to tame a cosmic wolf, much less raise him into a decent and friendly pet.

Cosmo licked Lance's face and he couldn't help but giggle. 'Stop it!' He gasped. 'It tickles!'

Cosmo reminded him of Luca, his dog. Lance buried his face in the wolf's fur. One more day, then he'd see everyone again.

Suddenly, Cosmo teleported away, causing Lance to fall flat on his face. A warm laughter filled the room. Lance's heart fluttered for a moment, but he pushed the feeling away.

'Shut it _, Yorak_!' Lance snapped, rubbing his sore nose.

Keith groaned. 'I never should've told you that.' He crouched down to cuddle his wolf.

Lance whistled and Cosmo came rushing back to him. ' _Good boy_ ', Lance cooed. 'You spent so long alone with Mr. Grumpy Pants, but it's all right. Lancy Lance is here to save you from his anti-social clutches.' He broke off a piece of Hunk's cookie and gave it to Cosmo. 'If you stay with me, I'll forgive you for letting me fall and give you tons of cookies.' Cosmo's tail started waggling faster as if he understood what Lance was saying.

'Hey!' Keith protested. 'Stop turning my wolf against me!'

Lance looked up at Keith and smirked. 'Whatcha gonna do about it?'

Keith held his gaze for a moment and gave him a cat-like smirk. Lance wondered what the other boy was planning, but before he could ask, Keith whistled an unfamiliar tune and Cosmo started sprinting around the room before he leaped onto Lance, knocking him over.

'That', Keith answered, and Lance could hear the smirk in his voice. Cosmo's paws were planted on Lance's chest, pushing him down and holding him in place even when he struggled to push the wolf off.

Lance looked up at Keith, ready to complain, but the words died on his lips when he saw Keith's face. He was laughing again, loud and carefree with his nose slightly scrunched and his eyebrows furrowed. _He has changed,_ Lance noted. He let himself look and take in the boy in front of him. Keith was taller, maybe even taller than Lance. His hair is longer, but he still had that horrible mullet. His shoulders seemed broader and his proportions were evened out. Overall, he just seemed more _mature._

Lance forced himself to snap out of it. 'Okay, okay, that's enough. I get it, you can train a wolf. Now get him off me.'

'Hmm…. I don't know, Lance', Keith said. There was a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. 'Aren't you forgetting something?'

'Are you serious?' Lance groaned. 'Just call Cosmo off already!'

'I thought you liked hanging out with him', Keith said innocently.

' _Fine!_ ' Lance huffed. 'Will you _please_ get Cosmo off me?'

'Well, since you asked so nicely…' Keith whistled the same tune again and Cosmo teleported to his side.

Suddenly, the door opened and Pidge rushed in. 'C'mon guys, we're leaving!'

Lance was up on his feet in an instant. 'I thought we were leaving tomorrow!'

'Allura said they finished up early', Pidge said impatiently. 'If we leave now, we'll arrive in time for dinner. Now _hurry up!_ '

Lance didn't need to be told twice. Without thinking, he grabbed Keith's hand and dragged him along to follow Pidge.

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Within a couple of minutes, they were ready to go. Keith, Krolia, and Cosmo would go in the Black Lion, Lance and Coran in Red, Allura, Shiro, and the mice in Blue, the Holts and Pidge's alien pets in Green, and Kaltenecker would travel with Hunk.

The journey home took a couple of hours longer since they couldn't form Voltron or create a wormhole. To pass the time, they talked about the things they wanted to do when they were back on earth.

'I'd kill to get my hands on some chocolate right now', Hunk said. 'I mean, the stuff Coran found at the Space Mall was good, but it's just not the same, you know.'

Lance hummed in agreement. 'Chocolate is great, but what I want is my mom's home-made meal', he said. 'She's an even better cook than Hunk!'

'Oh that's definitely true', Hunk agreed. 'No one is a better chef than tía Maria.'

'You guys really have to try her _ropa vieja',_ Lance told them. 'It's to _die_ for.' He could see his friends' fond smiles through the screens.

'But only if it's not too much to ask of your mother', Shiro said.

'Nonsense! I'm from a large family, mamá only knows how to cook for crowds!'

'Hey, are we splitting up when we arrive?' Keith asked. 'Cause you're all from different places, right?'

Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith. 'What are you talking about, Mullet? We're all going to America.'

'I thought you were Cuban', Keith frowned.

'I am!' Lance answered. 'Cuban born and raised… until the age of ten. We moved to America when Papá got a job at the Garrison. We all live near the Garrison, Keith. I thought you knew that.'

'Well apparently I didn't', Keith said, a bit harsher than necessary.

'Jeez, relax dude', Lance told him.

Keith scowled. 'I'm-'

'Okay guys, enough', Shiro scolded.

'Sorry', Lance muttered. He heard Hunk, Pidge and Matt snicker.

'We'll be entering our solar system in a few minutes', Pidge announced. 'We're almost there.'

'I wonder if dad managed to build that defence system', Matt mused.

'Well, there's only one way to find out', Lance said. Kaltenecker mooed in agreement.

'Hey, did anyone sent a message that we're coming?' Hunk asked.

Nobody answered.

'I can't believe we forgot to do that', Pidge groaned.

'I'm sure they'll be glad to see you', Allura assured them.

'Yes, after all, the return of the warriors is always the best cause for a celebration', Coran added, twisting his mustache.

'Let's hope you're right', Lance muttered.

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They entered the Earth's atmosphere without too much trouble. The ocean was all Lance could see outside his cockpit he was _home._ He'd dreamt of this moment for so long.

'Where are we landing our lions?' Pidge asked. 'We can't attract too much attention.'

'We can land them in the desert, near my shack', Keith answered. 'Then we can take our bikes.'

'But then we'd have to leave Kaltenecker behind', Hunk pointed out. 'He can't stay in the desert alone.'

'We can land behind my abuelo's farm', Lance suggested. 'It's closer to the city, but also empty enough so we can stay out of sight.'

'Great idea, Lance', Shiro said. 'Lead the way.'

Lance saw the farm in the distance. It was a house facing towards the ocean, but with fields spread out behind it. Lance couldn't hold still anymore. His feet tapped nervously and he wished he could go faster without accidentally crashing into the city. The last few ticks felt like an eternity, but finally, he was able to land his lion. Lance wasted no time and jumped out of Red before its mouth even touched the ground.

His family always spent the summer at abuelo's farm. Pidge had told him that it was probably around summer vacation on earth right now, and Lance was almost certain that the rest of his family would be there. Lance didn't know what kind of welcome he expected. He'd given up on parades and statues a long time ago, but he imagined that there'd be a lot of hugs and tears.

He didn't expect the gunshots.

The bullet missed him by a hair. Lance had his shield up in a second. Lance was shocked. He could see his teammates prepare for battle, but he motioned for them to stay behind. On second thought, he probably should've seen this coming. His abuelo was a brave man, and he definitely wouldn't like giant mechanical lions descending onto his backyard.

' _Espera Abuelo!'_ lance called, getting closer. He deflected another bullet with his shield. 'Soy yo! Lance!' His abuelo didn't seem to hear him, so he called again. Suddenly, there were two figures running out of the house. A man and a woman. ' _Para papá!_ ' The woman called. Lance would recognize his mother's voice anywhere. ' _Es Lance_ _!'_ The gunshots stopped and Lance saw his abuelo lower his shotgun. Lance dropped his shield and started sprinting with all his might. He only slowed down to prevent himself from bulldozering his parents to the ground when he tackled them into a hug.

' _Mamá! Papá!_ _'_ Lance cried out. The tears were streaming down his face and he sobbed as he buried his face in his mother's neck. His abuelo joined the hug too, apologizing for shooting at him. Eventually, his mother pulled back and cupped his face with her hands. She looked older that he remembered. They all did. 'Oh, _mijo_ ', she breathed. 'I've missed you so much.'

'I missed you too, _mamá_ ', lance told her. 'Every day.' He heard footsteps getting closer and saw other family members rushing towards him. They were calling out his name and suddenly he was being hugged by everyone at the same time. Everyone was there: His older brother Luis, his sister Veronica, his little brother Marco, Luis' wife Leah and their daughter Sofiá, and of course his abuela.

The Voltron team had also arrived at the scene and Lance took a deep breath to steady himself before introducing everyone. 'Everyone,' he said, 'this is my team. We've been figh- in space together for the past year.' He walked over to his teammates. 'You already know Hunk. He pilots the yellow lion.' Hunk greeted Lance's family and was immediately pulled into a hug by Lance's mother. 'This is Pidge,' Lance continued, 'and their brother Matt. Pidge pilots the green lion and is the smartest of us all. Those floating things are their pets. Matt was captured by the Galra, but he escaped and joined the rebellion.' Lance saw Marco gape in awe. He also noted that Marco was filming everything, so he put on his best and brightest smile for his little brother. 'This is Shiro, I think you guys know him as well. He and Matt were on the Kerberos mission together and he got captured as well. He had to fight in an arena- like those Roman ones. But he escaped and came back to earth before we all left in Blue and he became the black paladin. But he disappeared and-' Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Lance', he said gently.

'Yeah, sorry,' Lance apologized, 'I'm rambling. Anyway, this is Shiro, also known as Space dad.' Shiro groaned at the nickname, but still politely greeted Lance's family. 'That's Keith', Lance continued. 'Our current hot-headed and impulsive leader of Voltron.' 'Hey!' Keith protested. Lance ignored him. 'The Alien next to him is his mom-' Lance heard his family gasp in surprise- 'yeah, he's half Galra, but his dad's human though.'

'Wait', Veronica said. 'Weren't Galras the bad guys?'

'Yeah but she's with The Blade- the Galran resistance so she's cool. Oh, and that's Keith's cosmic wolf Cosmo. But Luca's still better- where is he?'

'Don't worry _mijo_ _'_ , his mom reassured him. 'He's inside.' 'Oh, okay', Lance shrugged. He could see his dog later. 'This is princess Allura of Altea, and the man with the mustache is her royal advisor Coran.'

'It's an honor to meet you', Allura said.

'Your boy has been a worthy paladin of Voltron', Coran added. 'Selfless and pure at heart. He's one of the best men I've met.'

'Oh Coran', Lance grinned, 'You're making me blush.'

'Ehm, sorry for interrupting', Hunk said. 'I'd love to stay, but I haven't seen my moms in ages so if you don't mind-'

'Don't worry, they're already on their way over', Lance's dad told him. 'Really?' Hunk asked in surprise.

'I don't think you keep track of time in space, but you guys disappeared a year ago today', Veronica said.

'Oh', Lance breathed.

'We kept in touch with Natia and Chasity', his mother continued. 'And we also reached out to Colleen Holt. She was devastated, having lost her entire family.' Lance hear Pidge sniffle behind him. 'We would come together often, trying to find you guys and helping each other cope. But then Sam came home and told us everything. He brought us the messages and after that, we also reached out to Hoshiko.'

Shiro perked up at the name. 'You-'

Lance's mother smiled. 'Yes, your mother is also on her way.'

Lance had never seen Shiro this close to tears. 'Thank you', he whispered as he pulled her into a hug. 'Thank you so much, Ms. McClain.'

'Please, call me Maria', she said. 'Now come on, I'm sure you're all hungry.'

'Oh my god, earth food!' Hunk cheered. The rest of the paladins cheered along with him as they made their way to the house.

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They couldn't all fit inside, so they brought the food out and settled on the large picnic table.

'Slow down lance', his mother scolded. 'You're going to choke.'

'Well at least I'd die happily', Lance answered as he continued to wolf down his dinner. The other paladins were also inhaling the food in front of them. Lance reached out to take the last piece of medianoche at the same time Keith did. The two paladins exchanged a look. Neither of them were ready to give up the heavenly food. But before either of them could make a move, Coran reached out and snatched the medianoche from the two of them.

'I must say,' Coran said after finishing the medianoche, 'this is one of the best meals I've ever had! Who would've thought that a small planet at the edge of the galaxy would possess such a culinary treasure!'

'Indeed', Allura agreed.

'We Towld-'

'Pidge, don't talk with your mouth full', Shiro scolded. They swallowed. 'We told you so', they repeated. Everyone laughed and continued talking while eating as they waited for the others to show up. Lance could see how nervous and excited his teammates were.

They'd just finished dinner when a car pulled up in the driveway. It could've been Luis and Veronica, who'd been sent out to get more groceries, but it didn't sound like the blue pickup truck. 'We're in the backyard!' Mamá called. Hurried footsteps followed. Both Luca and Cosmo started barking. Hunk jumped out of his seat and stumbled forward. 'Mom! Momma!' He cried out, rushing to get to his mothers. 'Hunk!' The three of them sank to the ground, not letting each other go. Lance had to blink back tears as he watched his best friend reunite with his mothers. Eventually, the Garrets managed to stand up and wipe their tears. Hunk's mothers wanted answers. They all wanted answers. But they decided to wait until the others had arrived too.

A few minutes later, a woman rushed into the garden. 'Where are my-' She stopped when she spotted the two Holts sitting at the table. Pidge and Matt jumped up and sprinted towards their mother. Sobbing and bawling as they clung onto each other. 'I did it mom', Pidge said through their sobs. 'I found dad and Matt.' As if on cue, Sam Holt walked into the garden. He joined their hug and shed a few tears of his own. Lance looked away to give them some privacy. After a while, Sam cleared his throat and said, 'I contacted the Garrison when I received Matt's message. I told them not to open fire when you entered our atmosphere. But I'm afraid they're already on their way over.'

'We've fought vicious aliens and saved the universe', Pidge sniffled. 'I'm sure we can handle a few diplomats.'

'Speak for yourself', Lance huffed. 'I _hate_ diplomatic missions.'

'That's because you always end up insulting people', Keith muttered.

' _Hey!_ I heard that!'

'That's enough, _mijo',_ Lance's mother warned.

'Si mamá', Lance murmured. But it didn't stop him from sticking his tongue out at Keith. Another car pulled up, and Lance could see Shiro glance up hopefully. But it turned out to be Luis and Veronica. They continued their conversations, but it was rather obvious that they were all waiting for the last person to arrive.

Finally, after fifteen minutes, they heard an engine turn off. A moment later, a small Asian woman with greying hair came into view. Her eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Shiro.

' _Takashi',_ she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. Lance saw Shiro stand up. ' _Kaasan',_ he breathed. He didn't rush forward like the others did. Instead, he slowly staggered towards her as if he couldn't believe that she was in front of him. His mother touched his hair with a shaking hand. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the scar on his face and his bionic arm. They exchanged a few words in Japanese before they melted into an embrace.

Shiro's mom also gestured for Keith to come over. Lance knew Keith and Shiro were basically brothers, of course Keith knew Shiro's mother. But Lance didn't expect Keith to be speaking Japanese as well. Lance knew it was a private moment, but he couldn't help his curiosity. ' _What are they saying?_ ' He whispered at Coran, who sat next to him. Allura, Coran and Krolia all brought their communicators. They were the only one who could understand everything the others said.

'Some words are only meant for each other, my boy', Coran answered. Coran was right, and Lance didn't ask again.

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Lance helped his mother clean the dishes while the others started the preparations for the campfire. The two of them worked in a comfortable silence, one that Lance had missed so much when he was in space. The castle of lions was a great, but it wasn't home. And even though Voltron had become his family, it just wasn't same. Suddenly, Lance's senses started to tingle, something he'd picked up during the war. He ran out of the house, and checked the surroundings. He could see Keith and Krolia do the same. He heard helicopters and suddenly people in black were dropping out of the sky. Cars and hovercrafts screeched to a stop around the farm and they were being surrounded. Lance had already changed out of his armor, but his Bayard was still in his hand.

'This is the Galaxy Garrison', someone announced through a megaphone. 'We come in peace, do not engage.'

 _Jeez,_ Lance thought, _is this what they consider peaceful?_

Everyone was out in the yard. Sofía was crying in Leah's arms, Luca was barking like crazy and Alpha teleported around while growling and intimidating the intruders. A man wearing the Garrison uniform walked into the yard. _Iverson._ He was followed by a few others, also wearing uniforms. Lance recognized them as some of his old teachers.

Allura, always the diplomate, stepped forward and introduced herself. 'I am princess Allura of Altea', she said, her voice as steady and confident as usual. 'We also come in peace. I suppose Mr. Holt has informed you of our arrival.'

'Indeed', Iverson answered. 'He had also informed us about the Galra-' His eyes shifted to Krolia- 'and the threat they form. I think you understand that this is only the necessary precautions we had to undertake when unknown spacecraft land on our planet.'

'Of course', Allura said. 'I understand. 'We have come to earth in hope that you would join the coalition, but also to reunite our paladins with their family.'

'In that case', Iverson said, 'I ask you to come with us to the Garrison headquarters where we can discuss this further.'

'I'm afraid we won't be coming with you, _sir',_ Shiro said, waking up to stand next to Allura. 'And _why_ won't you, _Shirogane?_ ' Iverson asked, gritting his teeth.

'The paladins have just fought a crucial battle in our fight against the Galra', Shiro explained, keeping his voice calm. 'They deserve to rest. At least for the day. We can schedule a meeting with the Garrison and the United Nations. It's best if both parties are fully prepared.'

'Of course', Iverson said. Lance could see his frustration even when he tried his best to remain polite. 'That seems reasonable.'

'We also have the knowledge to help you built earth's defense system', Pidge piped in. 'Since it's not exactly up and running yet.'

'You can just hand that information over to us', Iverson ordered them. Pidge definitely hit a sore point. Pidge readjusted their glasses. 'No can't do, sir', Pidge said. Lance knew they were trying to suppress a smirk. 'Since it's all up here.' They pointed to the side of their head. Lance could barely hold down his snicker when he saw Iverson's face redden in annoyance. It was so easy to push the man's buttons.

Allura cleared her throat. 'I think we're settled here', she said. 'You can contact us when you're ready. Mr. Holt will handle the communication on our behalf.' Sam nodded.

'Very well', Iverson said. 'We'll be leaving now.' They all stayed still until all the men in black flew away in the helicopters and the vehicles disappeared from sight. Shiro let out a breath and the rest took it as their cue to relax. 'I was _so close_ to punching him in the face', Shiro confessed. They all laughed at his comment. 'I'm still not over the fact they strapped me to that table.'

Keith grinned. 'As someone who has actually punched him in the face, I can assure you that it's extremely satisfying.' Shiro spun around. 'Wait, when did _that_ happen?' He asked.

'Uuuh….' Keith was suddenly at a loss of words.

'It's the reason he got kicked out of the Garrison', Lance said. Keith glared at him angrily.

'What?!' Shiro exclaimed. 'You got kicked out of the Garrison?!'

'You didn't know?' Hunk asked.

'No, I didn't', Shiro gritted. Lance saw Keith pale a bit. 'I- ugh.' Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Why does it matter anyway,' Keith snapped. 'It was four deca-phoebs ago!'

'Actually, it was only two deca-phoebs ago', Pidge corrected. 'Your trip to the colony was only about a quintant for us.'

'Uum, what's a quintant or deca-whatever and why isn't it the same for you?' Veronica asked.

'Those are Altean time units', Coran explained. 'A deca-phoeb is about the same amount of time the duration of the earth's cycle around your sun.'

'And a quintant is a day', Lance finished. 'It's different because of space and time and gravity and that kind of thingies.'

Pidge rolled their eyes. 'Wow Lance, that's such a great explanation', they said sarcastically.

'Oh shut your quiznak', Lance snapped.

'Okay, how about we continue the preparations for the campfire?' Colleen Suggested.

'Great idea', Maria agreed. 'Lance, go help your brother start the fire.'

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'So,' Lance said, sitting on the ground next to the pile of firewood, 'what have you been doing for the past dec- year?'

'I finished my tour in Afghanistan about two months ago', Luis answered, crouching in front of the wood and trying to light the matches. 'Well, that's what they believed I was doing. I was part of the special ops. I was in deep, no communication with anyone except my team. Didn't even know you were missing until I came back.' He looked up at Lance. 'I tried looking for you. Called in every single favor I had, but _nothing_. No one knew where you were, you disappeared off the face of the earth. It was only when Sam returned that we found out that you weren't on earth anymore. My little brother was out there fighting a war and defending the universe. I didn't believe it of course, not even after Sam showed us your recorded message. Hell, I can barely belief it now and I'm staring at a giant mechanical lion. I just- just didn't want you to go through the same thing I did. I didn't want my little brother to be roped into a war.'

'I didn't want to join at first', Lance admitted after a while. 'Didn't think I had it in me to defend the universe. But Blue, she chose me to be part of Voltron, part of something bigger. I was scared that I'd mess everything up the way I always did. But after seeing what then Galra did to all the innocent people in the universe, I knew I had to help, or at least try my best to do so. I couldn't let them take over the universe and enslave everyone else. I wanted to come home, we all did. But to do so could've brought you all in danger so we stayed as far away as possible.'

'You're home now', Luis said gently, placing a hand on Lance's shoulder. 'That's what matters.'

Lance nodded. He didn't want to tell Luis that they would be leaving as soon as they managed to build a replacement for the castle so he took the matches out of Luis' hands.

Lance smirked. 'You don't need that when you have _this._ ' He took his Bayard and it transformed into his rifle.

'Uhm, Lance', Luis said nervously. 'I don't think that's a good idea.'

'Nonsense!' Lance waved off his concerns. 'I've done this a million times already.' He aimed his rifle at the pile of wood. Luis took a couple of steps back. Lance pulled the trigger, but he realized at the last millisecond that it was still at maximum power. The blue laser shot out of his rifle and the pile exploded. Splinters of burnt wood and ash flew into the air. Both Lance and Luis coughed when they breathed it in.

'Oops', Lance wheezed. 'But-' he coughed- 'at least the fire's on.'

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Everyone sat around the fire. The sun was slowly dipping into the sea and the smell of burning wood and smores filled the air. Shiro started to tell his story. He told them about the kidnapping on Kerberos, the line at the arena, how he'd injured Matt so the other could escape. He told them how he'd earned his title as the champion, how the druids experimented on him, and how he managed to escape. Lance continued the story. He told them about sneaking out of the dorms, about finding Pidge on the roof, and about rescuing Shiro from the Garrison. Everyone added to the story: Pidge told them about the systems they'd hacked and the stuff they'd built to find information about Matt and their dad, Keith told them about his search for the Blue lion in the desert, Hunk told them about the Voltron Geiger counter he'd built to help find the lion and so on. They teased each other when they could (Mostly about Hunk's crush on Shay), and they supported each other when they needed. They showed their Bayards and other weapons, they showed pictures on the phones Pidge made and they demonstrated the way they'd defeated certain enemies. Anything to give their family a better picture of what had happened when they were gone. Of course, none of their parents were fond of the idea that their children were fighting a war, but they did respect the choices and sacrifices they'd made to protect the universe. They talked and talked until the early hours of the day. Everyone was tired when they finished. One by one, they decided to leave for home. The Holts left first. Matt carried a grumpy and drowsy Pidge in his arms as they said goodbye. Hunk left with his mothers soon after, and Shiro's mom agreed to take in the Alteans for the time being.

'Where are you guys staying?' Lance asked Keith.

'I think we'll go back to the shack together', he answered.

'Nonsense!' Lance's mom cut in. 'You can't stay there! We always have place for people to stay, we just need to change the room arrangements.'

'Krolia can take my room', Veronica offered. 'I'll stay with Marco.' Marco's protest were cut off by their mother's glare.

'And Keith can room with Lance', his sister added with a knowing smirk. Lance didn't know whether he should thank his sister or slap her. Of course she'd tried to set them up. 'Well, that's settled then', his mother concluded. She wouldn't take no for an answer and soon Lance found himself alone in his room with Keith.

 _Oh sure,_ Lance though as Keith took in his room. _What's the worst thing that could happen?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Marco sat in front of his tripod. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The rest of his family was downstairs, preparing for the dinner with the other parents. Marco could hear his mother cooking in the kitchen. He heard his father and brother cleaning the garden outside and someone else was vacuum cleaning. The house was as lively as ever, but is it was still missing something, or rather_ someone. _Marco stood up and walked over to the mirror for the hundredth time. He flattened his short curls absently as he went through all everything he wanted to say._

 _Marco sat back down on the desk chair. He'd connected his camera to his laptop. Everything was ready. Marco had wanted to make this video for a long time, but he never had the courage to actually do it. This time, it was going to be a livestream. No editing, no hesitating, no chickening out._

 _A soft breeze came through the open window. He was ready. Marco started the livestream with a click of his mouse. He made sure to greet his fans with a bright smile. 'Hola mis armores!_ ' _he said. 'I know you guys were expecting a new video, but I've decided to do a live show because I wanted to tell you guys something that's very personal and important. I've wanted to tell you guys earlier, but the time never seemed right. So yeah today- Oh I forgot to tweet the announcement! One sec.' Marco grabbed his phone and opened Twitter._ Hey guys! _He typed._ Come join my livestream. I have something _very_ important to say… _And sent._

 _Marco answered a few comments while he waited for more of his fans to come online. 'No, I'm not quitting Youtube', he answered with a chuckle. 'And no, this isn't my coming out video. I completely support the LGBTQIA+ community, but I'm just a boring straight guy… I think.' A million people were watching now. It was time to begin._

 _'Okay, so imma start now', Marco announced. 'I-' Marco was nervous. His heart was beating faster and his palms were starting to get clammy. 'I- okay, this is harder than I thought it would be.' He took a deep breath and tried again. 'I wanted to tell you guys about my brother. Not Luis- you guys already know him- but Lance. He's the one some of you asked about when I posted that family picture some time ago. There have been a lot of conspiracy theories going around online and I'm going to clear the air. Lance is my older brother, he's the third child in our family. He's the one who encouraged me to start a YouTube channel, and he was the one who helped me film and edit my first video. He was a great help since I didn't have all these equipment back then. Lance he… he's funny, caring, and basically just the best brother I can have- sorry Luis.'_ And now the hard part, _Marco thought. 'Lance was a student at the garrison. He was a fighter pilot, chasing his dream to explore the stars one day. But then-' Marco could feel himself choke up a bit- 'he went missing. Last year, there was an incident at Garrison, maybe you guys saw it on the news. But uhm.' Marco had to pause for a few seconds before he could continue. 'After the incident, a couple of Garrison agent knocked on our door and told us that Lance snuck out of his dorm during an emergency lockdown. They told us that he's missing along with Hunk, his best friend, and Pidge, another student. It's been a year since they've gone missing, and-' there were tears streaming down his face. It was a bit embarrassing, but when he glanced over at the comments, his fans were nothing but supportive. He dried his tears with his shirt. 'A couple of weeks ago, Sam Holt, the leader of the Kerberos mission, who everyone thought was dead, came back to earth. The government and the Garrison have both been_ very _vague and secretive about everything. But Sam dropped by last week and he brought us a video message from Lance. In the message, Lance said that he was part of Voltron, and they were doing their best to free the universe from furry space Nazis called the Galra. I- I don't know what I should believe. His message seemed a bit far stretched to me, but it's the only thing we have. Part of me hopes that it's true, because that means that Lance is living his dream. But another part of me worries that maybe he's stuck in a criminal gang and the message was his only way to call for help.' Marco sighed, he should wrap it up. He needed to help his mother with dinner. 'Anyway guys-' He was cut off by a gust of wind coming through the window. The house shook and Marco could hear loud whirring outside. 'What the…' Marco dashed to the window, he couldn't believe what he saw: Five gigantic mechanical lions were standing (sitting?) in abuelo's field and- oh shit, is abuelo running towards them with his shotgun?!_

 _Marco plucked his camera from his tripod and grabbed his portable Wi-Fi router, cursing under his breath as he rushed out of the house._

 _Marco stood next to Veronica when the gunshots stopped. He made sure that he was filming_ everything. _There were people coming out of the lions' mouths. Were they aliens? Marco stopped thinking about it when he finally understood what his mom was shouting._ Lance was home.

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.

.

Marco plugged his phone into the charger. He'd turned it off earlier. It was a family night, the internet could wait. Marco passed Lance's room on his way to the bathroom. The door was closed, but he could still hear the bickering. It was good to have his brother back.

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.

Lance didn't know why he ever thought that this was a good idea. He had only been in the same room with Keith for ten minutes and they had already argued twice. The first time about the sleeping arrangements, Lance had insisted that Keith would get the bed because he was the guest and mamá didn't raise an impolite son. But Keith had dumped his bag on the extra mattress on the floor and ended the (somewhat one-sided) argument. Their second argument was about whether they should open the window ('It's _hot_ in here, Lance. You want us to suffocate?' 'The window screen has a hole in it, _Keith_. We'll be sucked dry by the mosquitos. Just keep the door open.'). Lance was proud to say that he won that argument. Needless to say, Lance could handle their bickering. But he _couldn't_ handle Keith snooping around in his room.

Keith frowned as he reached out to grab a piece of paper from the desk. Lance's heart stopped when he remembered what was on it. He yelped and threw a towel in Keith's face before he jumped off his bed and snatched the paper out of Keith's hand.

'Go take a shower', he told Keith, pushing him out of the room. 'You smell.' Keith simply shrugged and walked towards the bathroom. Once he was gone, Lance carefully placed the piece of paper –which definitely didn't have a doodle of him and Shiro standing next to a spaceship on it- in his old biology textbook. Keith returned ten minutes later and _nothing_ could've prepared Lance for the sight of Keith standing at the doorway, wearing nothing but a too short towel around his waist. Lance didn't stare at the way Keith's dark hair hung in front of his eyes, dripping beads of water onto his bare chest and gliding down to his toned abs, and of course, Lance didn't let his eyes wander further before mentally berating himself and storming out of the room blushing madly… He definitely didn't go back to his room a moment later because he forgot his towel.

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Lance bolted upright in bed when the alarm blared in his ear. He jumped out of bed, ready to suit-up and head to the bridge. In his still half asleep state, Lance noticed two things: one, his room was brighter than usual, which was strange since he was in space; two, the ground beneath his feet was moving. The ground jerked and Lance lost his balance, he was wide awake the moment his head hit the soft bed. _Where was he?_ Lance heard groaning and he turned his head towards the sound. _Why was Keith lying on the ground?_ Disorientated, Lance took in his surroundings before the memories of the night before came back to him. _He was home!_ He was sharing a room with Keith and- ' _Dude,'_ Lance drawled, looking down at Keith, 'your abs are rock hard! Did you even feel me stepping on you?'

'Of course I felt that', Keith scowled. 'You _jumped_ on me. Now turn that fucking alarm off.'

'Oh yeah.' Lance hit the snooze button before found the switch to turn it off completely. 'Why did it even go off?' Lance mused. 'I didn't set it yesterday.'

'I adjusted the clock last night', Keith said. 'I must've accidentally set the alarm as well.'

Lance smirked. 'Keith Kogane, the Garrison's golden boy, defender of the universe, can't even properly adjust a clock.'

'Shut up.'

The smell of coffee and breakfast drifted into the room. Lance's stomach started to rumble. He hopped off the bed, careful not to step on Keith again, and walked over to the dresser. 'Race you downstairs!' Lance called out, before pulling open a drawer, grabbing a random shirt and stepping into yesterday's jeans. He was still struggling with his pants when he hopped out into the hallway. Lance could hear Keith rushing behind him. 'Wait! I don't have a clean shirt!' The black paladin called after him. Lance smirked. 'Just grab one of mine!' Lance called back as he rushed down the stairs.

The sight of his mother cooking was one he'd taken for granted before. Lance leaned against the doorway, just watching and listening for a moment. He could hear the waves hitting the shores in the background. The ocean breeze came through the open door, bringing the salty smell of the sea with it. Lance's mother walked over to him and greeted him with a hug. She tiptoed to kiss him on his forehead. 'Good morning, mijo', she smiled. Lance pulled his mother into another hug. 'Morning, mamá', he said. 'Do you need help?'

'I'm almost done', his mother answered. 'Go set the table.'

'Sí mamá.''Lance grabbed the plates from the cupboard and carried them to the dining table. 'Oh, and Lance?' His mother called. Lance set the plates down before turning to look at her. 'Don't flirt that loud this early in the morning', she said with a wink. 'Abuelo y abluela need their rest.' Lance's cheeks heated up as he sputtered to find a response. Luckily, the others were starting to come down the stairs, so Lance did what he did best: pretend like nothing happened.

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Lance almost spit out his orange juice when Keith entered the room. ' _Oh my god_ ', he wheezed. 'Is that my grumpy cat t-shirt?' Keith's frown was exactly like the cat's on his shirt. Lance quickly snapped a picture with his phone and sent it to Pidge and Hunk. 'It's the only thing that fits', Keith grumbled as he sat down next to Lance. 'Keep it', Lance told him, still snickering. 'It suits you.' The shirt was Luis', but he passed it down to Lance. The last time Lance wore it, it was still too big, but now it would probably fit perfectly. Lance looked down at his own shirt. It was too short and a bit tight. He had to buy some new clothes soon, or steal some of Luis'. Who would've thought that he'd get his growth spurt in space? It must've been the goo.

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Lance wasn't used to family breakfasts anymore. The conversations were light and relaxed, but Lance kept expecting someone to bring up the next battle plan or some scientific rant that went way over his head. He expected to taste nunvil or something equally disgusting when he takes a sip of his cup but was always met with sweet juice or coffee instead. Everything was familiar, and yet so different. Lance knew it would take him some time before he was completely readjusted to earth again, he'd known it before they were even close to coming home. So he joined the conversation and he joked like he always did. That way, his family wouldn't worry more than they already did.

Lance's hand shot to his side when the door suddenly slammed, only to find that he wasn't carrying his Bayard. He saw Keith and Krolia react as well. 'Sorry!' Luis called from the hallway. 'It's windy outside.' Lance relaxed again. He mentally curses himself for reacting like that. A moment later, Luis entered the room, giving both Leah and Sofía a kiss as he passed. 'Where did you go?' Lance asked, hoping that his voice sounded normal. 'Went for a jog on the beach', Luis answered, taking a piece of toast from Veronica's plate. She slapped his hand in protest. 'Need to keep in shape. Cosmo is an amazing jogging partner by the way, though he kept teleporting away when he got distracted.'

'You're sweaty', Veronica told Luis when he tried to steal her coffee. 'Go take a shower first.'

'It's true', Leah agreed. Luis placed a hand on his heart and faked being hurt by their words. 'You'll get the leftovers when you're done.' Leah joked. 'Now hurry.'

'Now I know where you get your personality from', Keith said, just loud enough for Lance to hear. Lance was about to get defensive, but the words died when he saw the gentle smile on Keith's face. 'And I finally know where you got yours from', Lance smiled, looking at Keith and Krolia's matching expressions.

'What do you mean?' Keith asked, as oblivious as always.

'Nothing', Lance shrugged, earning himself a playful shoulder shove from Keith. Lance caught Veronica's eye across the table. She gave him a knowing smirk. Lance stuck his tongue out at her.

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Lance was clearing the table with Marco when Luis came down again. 'Your food is on the kitchen counter', mamá told Luis.

'Thanks, ma', Luis said, walking into the kitchen. 'Hey Marco, is this your phone?' He asked when he sat down, he held up a buzzing phone. 'It's been going off non-stop.'

'Yeah, I know', Marco answered, taking it from Luis. 'It's been like that since I turned it on earlier, and honestly, I'm too scared to check now.' Lance, being the heroic older –and definitely not overly curious- brother that he was, offered to check it for Marco. 'The password is still your birthday, right?' Lance asked. Marco nodded. But before Lance could do anything, Keith called from the living room, 'Lance, you have to see this.'

'Not now, mullet man!' Lance called back. 'I'm helping Marco.'

'No, Lance, you _really_ have to see this', Veronica urged. Lance sighed and handed the buzzing phone back to Marco before he walked over to the couch. Leah, Sofía, and Veronica were sitting on the couch, while Keith, Krolia, and his father were standing nearby. They were all staring intensely at the TV. 'What's going on?' Lance frowned. 'You guys are on literally _every_ news channel on this planet.' Veronica told him, switching from one channel to the other. She was right, the only thing Lance saw were footages of him, his team or the lions. Where did they get it from?

'Did they credit my video?' Marco asked. 'I swear, if they didn't…'

'Of course they did', Veronica answered. 'Well, most of them did.'

'Wait', Lance said, looking at his siblings. 'What's going on? What video?' Marco and Veronica were too busy arguing about copyrights to pay attention to him, so Leah explained everything. 'Marco's a famous youtuber now', she told Lance while she pulled Sofía back onto her lap. 'And _apparently_ he posted a video of your arrival and now the world is freaking out because _aliens exist_.'

'CNN is still debating whether is real or not', papá said, 'Fox News is having the time of their lives, and the Garrison refuses to give a statement. It's the same for the White House. But apparently, the UN is having an emergency meeting so people believe that Voltron is real.'

' _Wow',_ was all that Lance could manage. Then, after processing everything, he turned to Krolia. 'Is there some kind of protocol for this? I mean, this never happened before. All those planets basically accepted Voltron right after we arrived.'

'All those planets were enslaved by the Galra, of course they accepted Voltron', Keith said.

'Keith's right', Krolia said. 'Earth has never been invaded by anyone. This corner of the galaxy has been left alone by all other civilizations, it's only natural that they react like this. And there's no protocol. The Blade operates in the shadows, we do our best to avoid these situations.'

'HOLY SHIT!' Marco exclaimed suddenly behind them. 'MY VIDEO HAS A BILLION VIEWS!'

'Oh my god, give me your phone', Veronica demanded. 'I need to see it.' She tried to grab Marco's phone but he stepped away. 'My subscribers _tripled_ , I have three hundred new emails, nine hundred messages, eighty missed calls, and my Instagram and Twitter have crashed because of all the DM's, tags, and retweets', Marco said, gawping at his phone.

Lance was startled by his own ringtone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it. 'Hello?'

'Does your TV have Wi-Fi?'

'Well, good morning to you too, Pidge', Lance said sarcastically. He could hear Pidge sigh through the phone. 'C'mon Lance, answer the question', they said impatiently. 'I don't know', Lance answered honestly. 'I think it does. Why?'

'That's not important right now', they answered. 'Is your phone connected to the Wi-Fi?'

'My phone has Wi-Fi?' Lance didn't think that his phone would have that feature. 'Did Alteans have Wi-Fi?' Lance could practically hear Pidge roll their eyes. 'They had a similar variation of it. But I updated it before I gave it to you. Now hurry up.' They hung up the phone. 'Wow,' Lance muttered, ' _rude.'_ But he still did as Pidge instructed. Luckily, no one changed the Wi-Fi password while he was away. The TV froze right after he connected to the Wi-Fi. A moment later, a familiar icon showed up on the screen. 'Is it supposed to do that?' Luis asked. He walked over to his wife and lifted Sofía into his arms.

'Don't worry', Lance said. 'That's just Pidge hacking our TV.' Pidge's face popped up on the screen right after the words left his mouth. 'Can you see me?' They asked.

'Yeah', Lance answered.

'Great', Pidge said. 'Can you balance your phone on the TV? We're using the camera and the mic.'

'Sure.' Lance threw his phone at Keith, who caught it effortlessly, and told him to do what Pidge said. One by one, the faces of the Voltron team members showed up on the screen. Shiro was the first one to speak. 'All secure?' He asked.

'Yes', Pidge answered. 'No one can tap in on our conversations. But you guys need to keep an eye out if you head out, I'm pretty sure the Garrison and other agencies are spying on us.'

'I hate it when people spy on me', Hunk grumbled. 'Don't we deserve _some_ privacy?'

'Says the one who read my diary', Pidge said pointedly.

'But that was _different',_ Hunk argued. Lance huffed a laugh. 'You can't talk your way out of this one, buddy', Lance told him.

Keith cleared his throat. 'Let get to the point', he said. Lance mentally rolled his eyes. _Always the serious one,_ he thought. 'We need to discuss our next move', Shiro said. 'Voltron is on every single media platform, people are demanding answers. But we can't go in without a plan.'

'They have to understand that we're not the bad guys here', Lance said. 'If we can get Earth to join the coalition, then we can set up base here until we rebuild the castle.'

'That might not be as easy as we hope', Allura said. 'This is the first time your planet has come in contact with anyone outside its own solar system. It's perfectly reasonable if they don't want to join our coalition. We can't force them to participate in a war they're not involved in.'

'Does it mean we'll have to leave if they refuse?' Hunk asked anxiously. 'We just got back, I don't want to leave yet.'

'We're not sure what their final answer will be', Shiro said calmly. 'But we have to prepare for the worst if necessary. They won't be able to ignore us this time since we've managed to make ourselves known.'

'Yeah', Pidge agreed. 'Apparently, someone caught us on film, I think it was a youtuber or something. I didn't have the time to check it out yet, but it's pretty much everywhere.' Lance pulled Marco closer and ruffled the boy's hair. 'Marco did it', Lance announced proudly. 'He's gotten pretty famous while we were gone.'

'I'm sorry', Marco apologized. 'I should've asked before I filmed it. I'm really sorry if it brought you guys more trouble.'

'Don't worry about it', Shiro reassured him. 'They can't hide us from the world like they tried the last time now everyone knows. If we have the public's support, it can work in our favor.'

'When are we supposed to talk to the world leaders?' Keith asked. 'They probably want answers as soon as possible.' Sam's face appeared on the screen. Pidge moved to give him more space. 'The Garrison contacted me this morning. We've agreed to meet tomorrow morning at the UN headquarters in New York so they'll have the time to prepare.'

'But what are we going to say?' Lance asked. 'Shiro, you're the leader. Any ideas?'

'Technically', Shiro said, 'Keith's the leader.'

'No', Keith argued. 'I left the team, you're the leader.'

'Can we sort this out later?' Pidge asked. 'You know, when we're sure we won't be kicked out of this planet?'

'Pidge is right', Allura said. 'This is no time to argue. Coran, Shiro, and I will prepare the speech today and send everything to each one of you. I know it can intimidating now you're back on your home planet, but this is just like every other diplomatic mission we've been on. Keep that in mind.' The paladins nodded. 'So we can just relax today?' Hunk asked. 'I kinda feel bad about letting you guys do all the work.'

'Don't be', Shiro told him with a gentle smile. 'Enjoy this peace while you can. We'll sort this out.'

'Oh, and before we end this call', Pidge said. 'The connections on our phones are secured so no one will be able to hack into them, and I've made some modifications to the helmets since we're not all under the same room anymore. They're now connected to my scanners, so they will sound an alarm when my scanners pick up any distress signal or any dire request from the rebels.'

'Great job, Pidge', Shiro praised. 'We'll keep you guys updated.' And with that, they ended the call. No one said a word for a while, only Sofía, who didn't understand the conversation continued to play with her stuffed dolphin.

'So, you're not staying', Veronica said, breaking the silence. She sounded betrayed. Lance didn't answer. 'You're just a kid, mijo', his father said. 'You should be studying, not fighting. Let someone else fight the war.' Everyone seemed to agree with him. They all tried to talk him out of continuing the fight. All except Krolia, Keith, and Luis. Because they knew what it was like.

Lance didn't know what to say. He'd had this conversation in his mind a thousand times before, but now he couldn't find the words. His family continued to try and talk sense into him, telling him about the dangers and all the other things he already knew. 'Stop', Lance said finally. 'Please, just _stop.'_ They did. 'I know what you're thinking, and I know the risks. But I can't let someone else fight in my place, it isn't right. We're close to winning the war and bringing peace to the universe and I can't quit- no, I _won't_ quit before we've done exactly that. I don't expect you to understand right now, I just want you to respect my choice.' Lance took a deep breath. He wanted to get out of the house and sit by the ocean. 'So, yeah, there's a chance that I might have to leave sooner than I wanted, but doesn't that mean that we should enjoy our time together instead of arguing?' It fell quiet again. His father sighed. 'You've grown, Lance', he said. 'And I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. But you're right. We should stop wasting our time on arguments.'

Lance smiled. 'Gracias papá _.'_

 _._

 _._

 _._

Keith loved the way the wind blew in his face as he sped past the sand dunes. His mom held on to his waist as they made their way to their old home, neither of them spoke. Keith could see his shack in the far distance.

They stepped off the speeder when they arrived. Krolia kept her eyes fixed on the empty space next to the shed. 'It's really gone', she said softly. Keith didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. 'It was the only place I ever thought of as home', his mom said after a while. 'I'm sorry, Keith. I left you alone.'

'I've already forgiven you a long time ago', Keith said. 'Not much was left after the fire, but I saved what I could.' Krolia nodded and they walked over to the shack. Keith was lost in his thoughts. They'd visited the graveyard earlier. It was weird to see his father's headstone again after all these years. He'd never thought that he'd visit it with his mom. In the two years that Keith spent with his mother, he'd learned that she wasn't one to let her emotions show, just like him. So he was a caught off guard when he saw the tears glimmering in her eyes in the graveyard. He'd left her alone to given her time to grieve privately. But now he wondered whether he should've stayed. Keith had never been good with words and comforting others, so maybe it was the right thing to do.

Keith's hoverbike was exactly where he left it. Keith pulled the cover off. His mother walked over to take a good look at it. 'Your father loved this bike.' She said with a fond smile. 'He'd spend hours fixing and waxing this thing.' Keith remembered it as well. His dad was the one who taught him the basics of mechanics. Those were his fondest memories of his father. 'It broke not long after he died', Keith said. 'It stayed here for a few years, but Shiro and I fixed it up one summer and now it's working perfectly again.' They spend the rest of the day talking. She even showed him the place where she crash-landed her jet.

Krolia told him to go back first when the sun was finally setting. She'd head back later, she said. She kissed him goodbye -something he was still getting used to- before he mounted his speeder again. Keith took a huge detour on the way back. It was already pretty dark when he arrived back at the McClain's family farm. The hoverbike was still nowhere to be seen, meaning that Krolia hadn't returned yet. Keith looked up at the starry sky. It was weird knowing what it was like to live out there between the stars. He shook himself out of his thought before entering the house.

It was dark and quiet inside, everyone was probably already asleep. There was a light on in the kitchen. Two plates with dinner were left on the kitchen counter with a note next to it: Don't forget to eat dinner! You can warm it up in the microwave. – Maria.

Keith smiled at the kind gesture. He grabbed a plate and fork and started eating, not bothering to warm it up. He did the dishes after he finished and sneaked up the stairs, careful not to make any sound. He brushed his teeth in the bathroom and walked into the bedroom. Lance stirred in his sleep and woke up when Keith accidentally bumped into a drawer while changing. 'You're back', Lance said sleepily, sitting up in the bed.

'Go back to sleep', Keith told him.

'I wasn't sleeping', Lance mumbled.

'Liar', Keith snorted.

'I was just resting my eyes for a bit okay', Lance huffed. 'I had a very adventurous day.'

'Really?' Keith asked, sitting down on his mattress. 'Tell me about it.'

'I went to Varadero beach with Marco', Lance told him. Keith could vaguely see him smiling in the dark. 'He told me he wanted to film a video at the beach, and we had to do it in Cuba, obviously. A lot of people recognized us. Well, they recognized Marco, I was just his strange alien brother. But we didn't deny them the pictures. And when we got back, Veronica insisted that we did something cool as well, because she missed our brother-sister time together, so we went to Paris for a pedicure.'

'You _what?!_ ' Keith whisper shouted.

'Yeah, we crossed the Atlantic in like half an hour', Lance continued. 'It was really nice.'

'Do you even speak French?' Keith asked.

'No, but Veronica does', Lance said. 'Sort of. She joined some club in college, I don't really know the details.'

'We were supposed to lie low, Lance', Keith sighed. 'Flying across the world to get a pedicure isn't exactly lying low.'

'Yeah, I know', Lance said, lying back down. He laid on his side to face Keith. 'Shiro called, he sounded pretty pissed. But I made it up to him by bringing him fresh croissants and macarons. I dropped some off at Pidge's and Hunk's as well. Yours is somewhere on the desk.' Keith could see Lance's eyes drooping. 'How was your day?' Lance asked.

'You're tired', Keith said. 'Just sleep.'

'No, I'm not', Lance protested. 'I'm listening with my eyes closed. I'm very talented, you know.'

'Yeah, you sure are', Keith smiled.

'Now tell me about your day', Lance urged. So Keith did. He told Lance about his dad, his mom, the visit to the graveyard, and even about the talk with his mom in the shack. 'You've changed', Lance mumbled when Keith finished. 'You're more open about your feelings.' He paused, and Keith thought he might've fallen asleep, but then he added, 'I'm glad you found your mom.' Keith heard soft snores coming from the bed a moment later. Keith laid down on his own bed and closed his eyes. For some reason, he wasn't able to fight the smile that was tugging on his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Krolia sat on the front porch of the McClain's family farm. It had been a tiring day, but she didn't feel like entering the house yet. She felt the soft ocean breeze and she closed her eyes. The door creaked open and Krolia turned her head to look. She was surprised to see Maria McClain stepping out of the house in her nightgown. 'I'm sorry if I woke you', Krolia said, but Maria waived her off. 'I came down for a glass of water', she said. 'Are you all right? Today must've been hard for you.' Krolia looked away, opting to gaze at the stars instead. 'It was bearable', she said at last. Maria sat down next to her. 'If you need someone to talk to', Maria said, 'I'm right here.'

'Thank you for your offer', was all Krolia said. The two of them sat in silence for a long time, just looking at the stars. 'I've heard your story', Maria said eventually, her voice barely above a whisper. 'Things haven't been easy for you. You're a strong woman, but I can see you struggling, even if the others may not. It's hard to be strong all the time.'

'What do you know about being strong', Krolia said, harsher than she intended to.

'I may not know what it's like to make tough life-changing decisions on a daily basis,' Maria said, 'but I'm a Cuban woman with four children, living in a foreign country with my family. The choices we make might not be the same, but I know that we're both trying to do what's best for our family. It's hard to keep your poker face up all the time. Sometimes you just need to let it all out.' It was quiet again. 'I've let them both down', Krolia said eventually. 'I promised to protect them by continuing my missions with the Blade, but all I've done was abandon my family and leave my son to fend for himself when my husband died. Now my son's fighting a war I never wanted him to even know about and we've brought Earth in danger just by bringing Voltron to this planet. I have failed them all.' Maria was a good listener. She didn't once try to interrupt Krolia when she was talking, and she didn't express her pity, which was the last thing Krolia wanted. 'I'd always hoped that I could return here one day and be reunited with them', Krolia continued. 'It was the only thing that kept me going while I was undercover in those Galra bases. I used to dream about our reunion. Keith wouldn't be a small child anymore and my husband would've aged, but none of that mattered to me. I dreamed that they'd welcome me back with open arms and that we could spend the rest of our time together as a family.' Krolia could feel the tears well up in her eyes. 'Reality is harsh. My husband died a long time ago and I couldn't even be here for him in his final moments. I wasn't there for him when he needed me the most and I've missed all the important moments of his life: his first words, first steps, first fight… I don't deserve to be his mother.'

'Don't', Maria said, placing a hand on top of Krolia's. 'Don't convince yourself that. You did what you thought was right. It was a tough call, not everyone could've done that. But _you_ did. You did what you thought was best for your family and that alone makes you a great mother, Krolia. As someone who has been left behind, I can tell you that knowing that the other is out there doing something important and great helps. But the best way to cure that gaping hole in our hearts is to have the other back again. I've only just met Keith, but I can tell he's changed. He's nothing like the boy Lance used to tell me about.'

'The red paladin talked about Keith?' Krolia asked, surprised at this new piece of information. Maria chuckled. 'All the time', she said. 'Our boys have been in the same class for years. Lance had always been an outgoing person. He wanted to make friends with _everyone._ He got frustrated when Keith shot down all his attempts at befriending him. According to Lance, Keith was an emo lone wolf who never spoke a word to anyone else or paid attention in class. But he still managed to be the best at everything he did _and_ he got to hang out with _the_ Takashi Shirogane.' Krolia smiled, picturing a small red paladin complaining to his mother about Keith. But then he pictured Keith and her heart broke all over again. 'Keith has changed', Maria repeated. 'He has found his place in the world- or universe, and he has found a sense of purpose. But more importantly, he found _you_. He's happy now, I'm sure you've seen it too. You can't change the past, Krolia, but you can shape your own future.'

'Thank you, Maria', Krolia said. 'For everything.'

'You're welcome', she answered. 'Just remember that we're all here for you if you need us.' Krolia nodded. 'I have one last question', she said. 'Why are you doing this?'

Maria smiled. 'I can never turn down anyone who needs help', she said. 'Besides, a family takes care of each other.'

'But we're not family', Krolia said, confused by her words. 'Not yet, you mean', Maria corrected. 'We might not be family now, but seeing our boys dancing around each other, it probably won't take long before we are.' Krolia laughed. Maria was right. It was hard to miss the tension between the two boys. She felt better after having this talk with Maria. Krolia might have lost a part of her heart and family, but being accepted into this one might not be so bad after all.

.

.

.

Colleen quietly slipped out of bed and headed to the restroom. On her way back she passed Matt's room. Through the open door, she could see her son lying spread out like a starfish on his bed. She chuckled lightly to herself when she heard Matt's loud snoring. Colleen decided to go check on Katie –Pidge, she reminded herself- as well. She was surprised to see light coming out from under the door. Colleen knocked before she entered. Pidge didn't even look up from the computer. She cleared her throat. 'Pidge?' They didn't even react, though Rover and Pidge's floaty alien pets did. Colleen sighed and stepped closer to her child. It was almost impossible to grab their attention when they were busy, a trait they'd inherited from their father. Colleen placed her hand on Pidge's shoulder, startling them. 'Mom!' They said', readjusting Matt's old glasses. 'It's late, Kat-Pidge', she said gently. The smile on Pidge's face when she corrected herself warmed her heart. Colleen had missed them all so much when they were gone. 'It's time to sleep.'

'But mom', Pidge pleaded. 'I'm almost done. I just need to solve this problem. Five more minutes, please?' They looked up at her with their huge puppy dog eyes. There was a time when Colleen couldn't resist that look, but now she'd trained herself to say no. 'You said that-' she looked at the clock- 'three hours ago. It'll do you no good to stare at that screen all night. Get some rest, the solution will come to you in the morning. I promise.'

Pidge sighed in defeat. 'Okay, mom.' Colleen led Pidge to their bed and tucked them in. Rover took their place at the end of the bed while the floaty clouds landed around Pidge. Colleen placed a kiss on Pidge's forehead. 'Goodnight, sweetie', she whispered.

'Goodnight mom', Pidge yawned. They were asleep before Collen even left the room. She made her way back to her own room and slipped under the covers. Sam's arm found its way around her waist and Colleen snuggled closer to her husband. Her family was home. They were safe. She slept better than she had for the past years.

.

.

.

Lance was awoken by the sound of someone rummaging through the drawers. 'Oh my god, mullet! It's early in the morning, can you keep it down?!' Lance buried his face into his pillow. 'It's not my fault I can't find a shirt because my old ones don't fit anymore', Keith muttered. Lance tried to block out the noise and fall back asleep but it was too late, his mind was already awake. Lance groaned as he sat up in bed. He threw Keith a stink eye before stepping out of bed and grabbing the gift bag from the desk. He shoved it into Keith's hand before sitting down on the side of the bed. 'Souvenirs from Paris', Lance told Keith. He watched as Keith glanced down curiously at the bag. 'Well? See what's inside', Lance urged. 'The bag isn't the gift, you know. Though I totally understand your fascination wi-' He was cut off by a pillow thrown at his face. 'Hey!'

'Oops', Keith said innocently. Lance wanted to throw the pillow back at Keith's face, but _quiznack_ that smile was cute. Keith pulled a black, skin-tight, synthetic shirt out of the bag. He pulled a face. 'Is that-'

'Yup', Lance answered. 'That's the Eifel tower made out of pink rhinestones. And? Do you like it?' He asked jokingly. The look on Keith's face as he tried to find a response that wouldn't insult Lance was hilarious. Lance couldn't help but laugh. 'Don't worry,' Lance wheezed, 'I bought that just to mess with you. There's another one in there.' This time, Lance was prepared for the shirt that was thrown at him. 'What does it say?' Keith asked as he held up a red shirt with 'Je suis allé à Paris' on it.

'Uhm, I don't think it's appropriate….'

' _Lance!'_

'Just kidding', Lance snickered. 'God, it's so easy to mess with you. I thought it said 'I've been to Paris' or something. Veronica told me, but I forgot.'

'Whatever', Keith huffed, changing into the shirt. 'Wanna go spar before breakfast?'

'Wow, you really haven't changed at all', Lance said, earning himself an eye roll. 'Give me ten minutes to go through my skincare routine and I'll meet you outside.'

Ten minutes later, the two paladins stood in front of the house, stretching and warming up. 'So how are we going to spar?' Keith asked, bending forward to reach his toes. 'It's not like you guys have training swords lying around and you can't spar with a rifle.' That's when Lance remembered that Keith hadn't seen his new sword yet. 'We'll just start and see what happens', Lance shrugged, smirking mentally. He couldn't wait to see the surprise on Keith's face.

'Hey, I thought that shirt was my gift', Keith said, looking at the shirt Lance was wearing.

'Well since you weren't going to appreciate it as much as I do', Lance said, 'I thought I could be the one to put it to good use.'

'I don't think you understand how gifts work, Lance', Keith said mockingly. Lance smirked. 'Well, if you want it so badly, I guess we can switch.'

'Oh shut up and grab your Bayard', Keith grumbled. He activated his Bayard and it transformed into his usual sword. Lance looked directly into Keith's eyes as he activated his Bayard, willing it to take the form of an Altean broadsword. Lance loved to see the surprise on Keith's face. 'What- when did- how?' Keith sputtered.

'Dunno', Lance shrugged. 'I was training one day and it just turned into this sword.' Keith stepped closer and reached out a hand. 'Can I?' Keith asked.

'Yeah sure.' Lance held the sword out so Keith could admire it better. He made sure to hold on to it so the Bayard wouldn't deactivate. 'Allura said it's an Altean broadsword', Lance told Keith. 'She also said that it's like the one king Alfor used.' Suddenly, a voice called from the house. 'Lance! Stop showing your sword off to Keith! I don't care how long it is, there are children present!' Lance jumped back, his sword clattered onto the ground, transforming back to its usual shape. 'What the quiznack, Veronica?!' Lance called back, feeling the blush creeping up on his cheeks. 'You can't say things like that!'

'You don't want to ruin little Marco's innocence now, do you?' Victoria smirked, throwing an arm around Marco's shoulders. 'Besides, whatcha gonna do about it? Tell papá or mamá about showing your sword to Keith?'

'Ay, mija, stop teasing your brother', papá said, stepping out of the house. 'Besides, you know how sensitive your brother can be when it comes to his sword.' Lance was blushing furiously while Keith was doubling over from laughter. 'You wanted to train, Kogane?' Lance called, picking up his Bayard. ' _Then bring it._ ' Keith straightened himself and tightened his grip on his sword. 'I won't go easy on you', he said.

'That's my line', Lance retorted. 'You're going down.'

.

.

.

A black car showed up after breakfast. Lance was greeted by a tall dark-haired man in a garrison uniform when he opened the door.

'Lance McClain?' The man asked. His face was blank, and his voice was just as monotonous.

'That's me', Lance answered, flashing the man a smile.

'I'm Sergeant Miller', the man said. 'I'm here to escort you, Keith Kogane, and Ms. Krolia to the airport.'

'Right, we're almost ready', Lance told Sergeant Miller. 'You can come in if you want.' The Sergeant decided to stay outside while Lance walked back to the living room. 'Sergeant Miller is outside', Lance told the others. 'He'll bring us to the airport.' He turned around to look at Keith and Krolia. 'Are you guys ready? Lance asked. Keith looked at Lance and pointed at his own paladin armor. 'Are _you_ ready?' He asked. 'Of course I'm ready, why wouldn't I- ooh.' Lance had forgotten to change into his armor. 'I'll be back in a tick.' He dashed up the stairs and changed into his armor in record time. He grabbed his Bayard from his nightstand and went downstairs again. 'Okay, now we're ready to go', Lance announced. He kissed his mother goodbye and promised to be back as soon as possible. The rest of his family wished them luck before they left the house.

'Hey serge', Lance said when they were seated in the car. It was a spacious car with two rows of backseats across each other. 'Can I call you that?' Lance asked.

'You may not', the sergeant answered sharply. Lance shrugged. 'We're going to the airport right? Do I need to bring my passport?'

'Did you bring your passport when you went to Cuba or France?' The sergeant asked dryly.

'Yeah, okay. Never mind.' Lance muttered. It was a quiet ride since apparently, the sergeant didn't like to listen to music in the car. Krolia was the one to break the silence. 'Have you both memorized what the princess sent?' She asked. Krolia was speaking Galran, choosing not to use her communicator. But Lance could understand her thanks to his connection with Red. 'There wasn't anything new', Keith answered. 'Most of it was just the usual procedure.' It took Lance a few seconds to realize that Keith responded in Galran. 'You learned Galran?' Lance asked in surprise.

'Yeah, learned it when I joined the Blade. It's useful in situations like these. The Serge is definitely trying to gather more Intel by listening to our conversation, so I think it's the best if you just nod or shake no.'

Lance rolled his eyes. 'You're not the only one who learned a new language, Keith', Lance answered in accented Altean. Keith blinked, he seemed surprised. 'You know Altean?' Keith asked.

'Yes, for a matter of fact, I do', Lance answered. 'Coran taught me the basics during our cleaning sessions.' Lance wasn't going to admit that he originally wanted to learn Altean to impress the princess before he realized that his crush would never lead anywhere. But at least he got to impress Keith with it, which sorta made up for the fact that he'd spend hours being chased by holographic monsters while trying to learn the language. They continued their conversation in Galran and Altean, but there was only so much Lance could've learned in a year. So every time he didn't know or forgot a word, he'd use the Spanish word and hope that Sergeant Miller didn't bother to take Spanish in high school.

.

.

.

They met up with the others in front one of the Garrison's private planes. 'Wow, I'm really not used to airplanes anymore', Hunk said as he sat down on one of the luxurious leather seats. 'I know right?' Pidge said. 'Compared to the spaceships, airplanes are just so…primitive.'

'Yeah', Hunk agreed. 'It takes like three hours to get to New York. _Three hours._ We could've flown to the Balmera and back in three hours.'

'You'd like that wouldn't you, big guy', Lance teased. 'A nice trip to the Balmera to visit your girlfriend.'

'Shay's not my girlfriend', Hunk muttered, his cheeks turning red.

'And Keith doesn't have a mullet', Lance said. 'Stop lying to yourself. You _like_ her.'

'Speaking of Keith', Pidge said deviously, adjusting their glasses with a sly smile. _That little gremlin!_

'Who wants to watch a movie?' Lance called, changing the subject as fast as possible. 'We've been gone for a year, there's a lot to catch up on.' That's how Pidge, Hunk, Keith, and Lance ended up watching Moana while the rest continued to prepare for the meeting. But eventually, they couldn't resist the Disney magic any longer and they all watched the movie together.

'That's officially my favorite Disney movie', Hunk declared after the movie ended.

'Guys', Lance said. 'There's still time before we arrive. You know what this means.'

'DISNEY SING ALONG!' Hunk, Matt, and Pidge cheered. Lance pulled out his phone because obviously, he downloaded all the Disney songs on his phone the moment he had access to the internet again. Pidge and Matt started off with 'Make a man out of you', using bottles of water as their microphones. Hunk and Lance followed with 'Love is an open door', and after lots of persuading from Shiro, Keith joined him in singing 'A whole new world.' Lance's mind stopped working when he heard Keith sing. Hunk had to give Lance a hard nudge for him to pick his jaw up from the ground. Lance didn't waste another moment to grab Hunk's phone and recorded the rest of the duet. Everyone was having tons of fun. Eventually, it turned into a competition: everyone had to perform in the most dramatic way possible. Pidge dared him to sing 'I won't say I'm in love'. Their eyes glanced over to Keith for a second. ' _You're on'_ , Lance whispered. Lance sang and danced while Hunk, Pidge, and Matt sang the part of the muses. Lance had to work up some courage, but he draped himself dramatically over Keith during the first chorus and winked when he stood up again. He allowed himself a second to freak out before continuing with the rest of the song. Lance caught Pidge's eye roll and stuck his tongue out at them. They moved on to 'Zero to hero' afterward, but they changed 'Hercules' into 'Takashi' and 'Herc' into 'Shiro'. It was incredibly funny to see Shiro laughing and blushing throughout the song. They continued to sing for the rest of the flight. Even Coran joined in sometimes when he recognized a song, since Lance always liked to sing Disney song while cleaning. When they finished belting out 'Let it go', the pilot announced that they'd be landing soon. The atmosphere turned serious again, but Lance did feel a bit more relaxed that he had been before.

.

.

.

They were led through multiple security checks before they finally stood in front of the door that would lead them to the world council. 'Remember', Allura said, 'this is just another diplomatic meeting. It's going to be all right.' The door opened and they were led to a long table in front of the entire council.

'I am princess Allura of Altea', Allura said, her posture as regal as ever. 'Today we represent Voltron, the Blade of Mamora, and the Galactic Rebellion. We're here to invite Earth to join the Voltron Coalition.'

'And what exactly is the coalition, princess Allura?' A man with a British accent asked.

'The Coalition is a resistance force against the Galra Empire', Allura explained. 'We, as Voltron, are dedicated to our cause to free the planets enslaved by the Galra.'

'And what is the Galra exactly?' Another woman asked. 'You can't believe us to join without understanding everything there is to now.'

Allura gave Coran a subtle nod and the man walked over to the center of the room. Coran activated the hologram. Within a second, the room was filled with a holographic map of the universe. With the help of Pidge, Allura showed explained the situation with holographic pictures and videos. They went on for hours, answering questions about Voltron, the rebellion, and space.

'What about the Kerberos crew?' A man asked. 'What exactly happened to you?'

Shiro cleared his throat. 'We were attacked by the Galra on Kerberos. They brought Sam and Matthew Holt to the labor camps while I was sent to the Colosseum to fight for their amusement. They took my right arm and replaced it with a bionic arm made of Galra tech. But the one that I have now is made by Pidge Holt after I lost my other one in battle.'

'Do you have proof?' A voice asked. Suddenly, everyone was asking all their questions and shouting their opinions at once. 'Can we really trust the words of these teenagers?' 'You're warning us about the Galra, but that woman is standing right next to you!' 'Footage can be faked, aliens don't exist. That woman is wearing a costume. They're just pulling our legs!' The council wasn't giving them a chance to explain and answer their question. They had just spent the past few hours explaining everything, it was as if they hadn't listened at all! Lance had enough. They weren't being taken seriously.

'ENOUGH!' Lance yelled, standing up from his chair. It was quiet. 'We might seem like a bunch of naïve children to you, but we've faced dangers much worse than you could ever imagine. We're not asking you to join the fight, we're only seeking permission to set up a temporary base on earth until we have rebuild or ship. As Allura said before, it's a peaceful coalition with tons of merits. Earth can build relationships with other planets that are part of the coalition, trading and exchanging information with them. The Galra are a real threat, you've seen the footage, you _know_ what the Galra can do. All we're asking is a chance to protect Earth from falling into their hands.'

'I think that has been enough for today', someone said. 'We shall consider your offer. Thank you, we will contact you once we've made our decision.' They were led out of the room by a couple of security guards and escorted back to the cars that would bring them back to the airport.

'I'm sorry', Lance said once they were on the plane. 'I lost my cool and pissed them off.' He sunk deeper into his chair. He _hated_ diplomacy.

'On the contrary, my boy', Coran said, twirling his mustache. 'I've got the feeling that your words got through to them.' Lance glanced up. 'You think?'

'Coran's right', Allura said. 'You did well. You all did.'

'And besides,' Pidge added, 'you got us out of that hellhole. Did you see that one creep with the glasses who kept looking at Allura as if he was trying to undress her with his eyes? He was whispering shit to his friends or something when everyone was shouting. I would've tasered him if you didn't start talking, Lance.'

'Yeah, I saw it too', Hunk agreed. 'I know that most of them have probably been working non-stop for the past two days, but I thought they were supposed to be at least a bit more professional.'

'It doesn't matter now', Shiro said. 'All we can do now is rest and wait. We have to be prepared in case of an emergency.' They all agreed with Shiro, it had been a long day. They decided to watch another movie on the flight back, but most of them fell asleep halfway through. The airplane landed when the sun was just starting to set. Everyone was being led to different cars again. But before Lance stepped into the car, he remembered something and dashed over to Coran. 'Hey, Coran!' Lance called.

'What is it, my boy?' Coran asked.

'So I had this idea…'


	4. Chapter 4

Lance was dead on his feet, all he wanted was to sleep. He gave his family a brief summary on the UN's dicision -or the lack thereof- and headed upstairs. He was about to fall face first onto his bed when he remembered his talk with Coran. With a sigh, he pulled out his phone and texted Marco. Luckily, the boy was always on his phone so he came upstairs as soon as he read the message. 'Hey Lance, what's up?' Marco asked when he entered the room. Lance looked up from where he sat on the bed. He flashed Marco a smile. 'So, you know about the coalition,' Lance said, 'and you know about our plan to rebuild the Castle of Lions.' Marco nodded. 'It's not exactly a cheap project so we'll be needing sponsors and donations. We can't expect the other coalition members to pay it all. We've already done a tour the last time so we need something else. I thought that a YouTube channel might help raise some money. It's not exactly a YouTube channel, more like the galactic version of it and who would be better for the job than my hermanito? I've already asked Coran and he was hyped about it as well and...Marco?' Lance had been ranting, but Marco hadn't said a word at all. Maybe this was a bad idea. Marco already had a lot to do, Lance should've asked. Lance was snapped out of his thought when Marco tackled him, landing on top of Lance, knocking the air out of him. 'You're the BEST BROTHER OH MY GOD!' Marco screeched, grinning from ear to ear. 'You've deserved it', Lance told him before pushing his brother off him. 'There's still a lot to do before you can actually start, but Coran will help you with that.' Marco started to list off all the possible video ideas. Lance was just as excited as Marco was and he really wanted to hear his brother's ideas, but the day's mission took a toll on him and Lance was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Marco seemed to notice it after voicing his fifth idea. 'I'll let you rest', he smiled, giving Lance a hug. 'Thank you.' 'You're welcome', Lance said. 'Now go tell the rest about it!' Marco didn't needed to be told twice. He was out of the room in a second. Lance laid on the bed, staring at the plastic stars on his ceiling. He smiled, it as a good idea. 'Why did Marco almost knock me down the stairs? Keith asked when he enterd the room. 'He's just excited to be part of the Voltron promotion team', Lance answered.

'That's a thing?' Keith asked, letting himself fall onto his mattress. 'It is now', Lance answered. He was tired to the bone. 'Good night, samurai', he mumbled.

'Good night, sharpshooter.'

Lance hated Sendek. Lance absolutely detested his existence. Sure, him killing thousands if not millions of innocents and enslaving entire planets was terrible. But waking Lance up when he had just fallen asleep? That Galra was going to regret being born.

Lance was just as tired as he was before, only now, he was also cranky as shit. Nevertheless, he dragged himself out of bed and changed into his armor. Keith seemed just as tired and irritated as he was. Lance could hear the lions flying away to find their paladins. Lance hurried down the stairs while cursing profanities in every language he knew. The two paladins were just outside the door when Veronica called. 'Wait!' She called. Lance halted and turned toward her. 'We don't have time Veronica!' He called back.

'Catch!' She threw two objects at him. Lance caught them on instinct. He looked down, they were bottles of energy drinks. 'I thought you might need them.' Lance loved his sister. 'Thanks!' he said, at the same time Keith told him to hurry up. Lance sprinted over to Keith and handed him one of the bottles before he ran to his own lion. It was time to fight some aliens.

_  
'Where is the signal coming from?' Keith asked when they've left the Earth's atmosphere. 'It's from a small planet at the edge of the Galra territory', Pidge said. 'It's only twenty light-years away so well be there in give or take thirty minutes.'

'Anything else we need to know?' Lance asked.

'I've made some other modifications to our comms and video chat system', Pidge said. 'Now they have a wider range so we can communicate with our team on earth.' Coran's face popped up in the corner of Lance's screen. 'Number five is right', he said. 'We'll handle the communication with the planet, you can focus on defeating the Galra fleet.'

'Let's finish this and be back before breakfast', Hunk said. 'I promised my moms I'd make waffles.'

'Ooh, can I come?' Lance asked. 'I love your waffles.'

'Sorry dude,' Hunk said, 'it's a mothers and son bonding breakfast. Maybe next time?'

'No problem buddy', Lance answered. 'You go have fun with your moms.'

'My lion has picked up some Galra activity', Allura said. 'We're close.'

'Be ready for the fight', Keith told them. 'Protecting the inhabitants and the planet is our first priority.'

'Roger that.'  
_

Sendek had sent two battleships and dozens of fighter jets. It was a full-scale attack on the colony's capital. 'Why is Sendek attacking this planet?' Lance asked. 'I thought they were loyal to Sendek.'

'They were', Coran said. 'But apparently they switched over to Lotor's side recently.'

'What else do we know?' Keith asked. 'We can't go in without a plan.'

'Wow, our reckless leader has changed!'

'Now is not the time, Lance', Keith grumbled.

'According to commander Morack, most of Jilrim's inhabitants have fled to evacuation ships, but they can't leave with Sendek's troops blocking the path.'

'When he said 'inhabitants', did he mean the Galra ones only or all the inhabitants of the planet?' Allura asked.

'Both of them', Coran said. 'But the Galrans have a different evacuation centrer than the Jilrims.

'Typical', Allura scowled.

'That makes this mission more complicated', Keith said. 'We need to take care of those ion-cannons first before we can do anything else. Then we'll take care of those jets and bring the refugees to Olkarion.'

'Are we splitting up?' Pidge asked. 'Or are we forming Voltron?'

'Voltron will be our last resort', Keith said. 'We'll cover more ground in our lions. There are two ion canons, Lance and I are the fastest so we'll take care of them. The rest of you focus on getting the people to safely. Let's go!'

Lance followed Keith toward the battleship before they split up to deal with the ships. Even though Red was the fastest and most agile lion, Lance still had trouble deflecting and eliminating the fighter jets guarding the ship. The fight was different than Lance was used to. The patterns and tactics of the jets had been changed. The ion cannon was heavier guarded this time. Lance tried get through the ship's defences by taking out the jets one by one, but it was taking him way too long. Lance could hear the whirring of the ion-canon and he knew that it was only a matter of minutes before the ion-beam was fired. 'Lance, what's taking you so long?!' Keith shouted over the comms. Lance took a sharp turn to avoid a laser beam, but he was being shot at from all sides. Red took a hit. Lance let out a grunt. 'I'm being tailed by four jets and there are four more guarding the canon!' Lance shouted. 'I can't get through them!'

'I'm almost done with this ship', Keith said. 'I'll come help you after.'

'Thanks, mullet', Lance gritted, making a 360-spin with red to take out another jet. Lance had just taken out the jets tailing him when he saw the passenger's ship take off from the evacuation centre. 'Pidge!' Lance called. 'What are you guys doing?! I haven't cleared the skies yet!'

'I don't know what's happening!' The Green Paladin responded. 'All I did was enter the coordinates of Olkarion. The ship took off on its own!'

'Then fix it!' Lance demanded. 'Otherwise they'll get blasted into oblivion!'

'What do you think I'm doing?' Pidge snapped. 'Just keep them safe until I fix the problem.'

'Ugh!' Lance grunted. 'Why can't things just, go the way they're supposed to?! Just once!' Lance fired hot lava beams at the jet surrounding the cannon. He managed to take one of them out as well as cause damage to the battleship.

'Lance, the canon!' Hunk exclaimed.

'Quiznak!' Lance cursed. The ion-cannon was directly aimed at the refugees. Lance thrusted Red forward, hoping that he would make it in time. Seconds before the cannon fired, Lance reached the passengers ship and he pushed it out of the cannons path. He had to leave, quickly. But Lance was taken aback by a sudden flashback. The memories of the omega shield and the solar flares and the pink blast flashed in front of his eyes. He was staring straight at the cannon, but Lance was frozen. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Lance remembered the impact, the unbearable pain, his own screams, along with Red's in his head. He remembered the nothingness. Lance felt Red's presence in his mind. They were both reliving the same memory. Lance vaguely heard his teammates screaming through the comms. The purple light filled his sight. Something crashed into the red lion, pushing him out of the ion-beam's path. Lance sucked in a sharp breath and snapped out of his frozen state. 'Lance! Are you okay?!' Hunk shouted in his ear. 'Ye-yeah', Lance answered weakly.' He was still quite shaken, but they were still in the middle of a fight. They had to finish this as soon as possible. 'What happened?!' Keith demanded. The black lion was floating in front of Red. Only then did Lance realize that Keith was the one who saved him. 'Why didn't you-' Lance cut him off. 'We need to take care of the canon.' Lance flew off before Keith could say anything else. Lance's hand were shaking. He could feel the tear welling up in his eyes. 'Lance, my boy, are you all right?' Coran asked softly. Oh shit. He'd forgotten about the connection with Earth. Lance cleared his throat to get rid of the Lump in his throat. 'I'm fine', he lied. 'Just a bit tired. I got dragged out of bed for this mission, you know.' He shot Coran a smile, but he could see that the older man wasn't buying it. 'Lance-' 'Sorry, can't call and drive at the same time. Safety first and all!' Lance broke the connection. _Mission first_ , he thought. _Cry later._  
 _._

.

Lance managed to avoid his team mates and their questions for the rest of the mission. Including the trip to Olkarion and the Galra headquarters (where they still thought of Voltron as their ally since the word if their fight with Lotor hadn't got out yet) Lance couldn't evade them any longer when they returned to Earth. He had barely stepped out of his lion when Keith stalked over to him, aggressively tearing off his own helmet. ' _What the fuck were you thinking!'_ Keith hissed. 'Why didn't you move out of the way? You could've _died_ Lance!' Keith was yelling now. 'You can't make mistakes like this! What are we going to do if you died, Lance? What would happen to Voltron?' _Voltron_ , Lance thought bitterly. _He doesn't care about me. He only cares about Voltron._ 'Well, I'm sorry', Lance snapped. 'Shit happen. Get over it.' He dropped his helmet the ground and stomped off.

'Lance!' Keith called after him. 'Come back!' Lance fastened his pace. The tears streamed down his face, but he wouldn't allow himself to start sobbing until he was sure he was out of sight.

.

.  
'Lance!' Keith called. 'Come back!' Why was he so stubborn? Why couldn't he just listen! He almost died, dammit! Keith was about to call Lance again when he felt a hand in his shoulder. 'Keith, wait', Allura said. Keith spun around and slapped her hand away. ' _Wait_?' He sneered. 'He almost jeopardized everything! He could've gotten himself out of the way in less than a second, but he didn't. He stayed there, staring at the quiznacking canon like a deer in headlights! If I weren't there to save his dumb ass, he would've been space dust by now! So no, I won't fucking wait, _princess_.' Keith was taking his anger out at Allura. It wasn't right, she wasn't the one he was mad at, it was Lance. 'It's my fault', Allura blurted. 'What?' Keith frowned. That didn't make any sense. 'What do you mean 'it's your fault'? You weren't even there!'

'Lance he- no, I-' Allura was struggling to find the right words to say, much to Keith's surprise. The princess had never acted like this before. Allura sighed. 'Lance died.' She said at last.

'WHAT?!' The paladins shouted at once. 'What do you mean he died?' Pidge asked. 'When did that happen?'

'Why didn't he tell us?' Hunk added. 'Why didn't _you_ tell us?' Keith was too shocked to ask questions. 'Explain', he said cooly.

'When we were fixing the omega shield,' Allura said slowly, staring at the spot in the horizon where Lance disappeared. Lance pushed me out of the way of an energy discharge, taking the full blast himself.' She paused. 'He- I rushed to him as fast as possible. Red had temporary shut down, and Lance wasn't responding to anything. But then I felt it... I felt Lance's presence within the lion. Blue guided me, she told me what to do. With her help, I managed to return Lance's spirit to his body and heal him. Lance he- he probably relived that moment today when he pushed those refugees out of the way.' Keith ran a hand through his hair. 'Fuck', he breathed. 'That's why you knew what to do with Shiro. I didn't know.'

'None of you did', Allura said softly.

'Why didn't you tell us?' Hunk repeated. 'Lance is my best friend, we don't keep secrets from each other.'

'I don't know why Lance chose to keep this from you', Allura said. 'But I respected his choice and it wasn't my place to tell. I thought that he'd open up after a little while.'

'I yelled at him', Keith groaned. 'He relived a trauma and I yelled at him for it. I was a fucking asshole to him. I need to find him.' Keith needed to apologize and set this right. 'Any idea where he went?'

'The hiding spot', a voice behind him said. Keith turned. The entire McClain family had gathered around without Keith noticing. They stood in their pyjamas. Keith knew they'd heard everything by the sad look in their eyes. Keith looked at Luis. He was the one who spoke 'Where is it?' Keith asked.

'At the end of the shore, there's a cliff', Luis told him. 'There's the entrance, it leads to an open cave. It's like a private beach. You'll find him there.'  
'Thanks', Keith said before running off to find Lance.

.

Lance sat alone in the cave. It was his favorite spot and the view from the cave was the best in the world. Lance had changed out of his armor and taken off his shoes. He'd stopped crying by now. The sound of the waves hitting shore was calming. Lance laid down in the sand and placed his feet in the water.

He was weak. Why couldn't he just go through _one_ mission without freaking out and almost getting himself killed? Keith had to risk his life to save him. _Keith_... Just remembering the way Keith looked and yelled at him made him want to cry all over again. It was stupid of him to think that Keith saved him because he cared. In the end, all he cared about was Voltron. The tears started flowing again. Lance screamed to let all of his frustration out. The sound echoed through the cave.

'Lance?' A familiar voice called. 'Are you all right?' Lance heard the footsteps coming closer. Lance was panicking. Why did Keith come here? Keith can't see him like this! Lance considered his options: he could dive into the sea and swim his way around the cliff to the beach, but it was dark outside so he wouldn't be able to see where he was swimming; or maybe he could subtly sneak past Keith and escape. But before Lance could make a decision, Keith came stumbling through the entrance.

Lance pulled up his knees and looked the other way. 'Lance', Keith said. 'What happened? I heard you screaming.' Lance ignored him. 'Lance', Keith tried again. Lance continued to ignore him. Keith sighed. 'I was an asshole', Keith said. 'I freaked out. I didn't know what you went through and know I realise that yelling at you for reliving a trauma might not be the best thing and I-' He paused. Lance closed his eyes and listened to the waves. 'I'm really not good at this', Keith admitted. 'Please say something.' Lance took a breath and slowly turned so he was facing Keith. He still didn't say a word, not trusting his voice. Keith stepped forward hesitantly, but he sat down next to Lance when Lance didn't object. 'I'm really sorry', Keith told him. 'Do you... Want to talk about it?' Lance shook his head. He didn't even want to think about it. They sat side by side for a moment, looking out at sea in the moonlit cave.

'Was that the reason why you blamed yourself for not noticing that Shiro was stuck in the astral plane?' Keith asked. Lance nodded. He'd only been in the astral plane for a few minutes, but that would've been enough for Shiro to talk to him, right? Lance couldn't exactly remember what happened in the astral plane. All his memories were blurry. But if Shiro did warn him about the clones, then they could've taken care of it way sooner than they did. If he'd known, then Keith wouldn't have to fight Shiro. If-

'Stop it', Keith said, snapping Lance out of his thoughts. 'Whatever you're thinking, it's not true.'

'How did you know?' Lance asked weakly.

'You have that look on your face', Keith told him. 'The same one you had when you told me that you wanted to give up your lion.' Lance stared at him in disbelieve. 'But that was-' 'About two years ago, I know', Keith said. 'Let's just say that I had a lot of time to reflect when I was stuck on a space whale.'

'Thank you', Lance said softly. 'Thank you for caring and for coming after me.'

'Of course I care', Keith said. 'You're my friend.'

Ah, friend. Fried-zoned again by another one of his crushes. It's nothing new, really. Lance just wished that it didn't hurt so damn much. He pushed those thoughts and feelings as far down as possible. 'Thanks Keith', Lance smiled. It was a genuine one. 'But after all this, I think you've deserved the best friend upgrade.'

'Best friends?' Keith asked, dumbfounded. 'But I thought Hunk was your best friend?'

'A person can have more than one best friend, Keith', Lance told him. 'Unless you don't want to...'

'No! I do!' Keith said hastily. 'You're my best friend.' Lance grinned. 'So I guess this counts as a bonding moment.'

'It definitely does', Keith said seriously. 'And you're not allowed to forget this one.'

'What if I do?' Lance taunted. 'Whacha gonna do, cradle me in your arms?'

'More like strangle you with them.' Keith grumbled. Lance snorted. The clouds had fully covered the moon now. Lance used his phone to light up the cave. Suddenly, Lance heard the familiar sound of raindrops falling into the sea. He perked up immediately. _It's raining_! 'Oh my god we have to go!' Lance said, jumping to his feet. He pulled Keith up with him. 'What?' Keith asked, alarmed. 'Why?'

'It's raining Keith', Lance said. 'I haven't felt the rain on my face in over a year. Let's go!' Lance dragged Keith out of the cave, not letting go of the other boy's hand. 'Quick, sing that song!' Lance urged as they ran. 'The one you always sing in the shower.'

'W-what!' Keith sputtered. 'How do you know about that?!'

'Dude, your bathroom and my bedroom share a wall', Lance told him. 'I hear everything.' Lance probably could've seen the blush on Keith's face if it weren't so dark. 'But-'

'C'mon! As a 'Sorry I yelled at you' gift?' Lance pleaded. They were finally outside. Lance let go of Keith's hand and started spinning around in the sand. Lance was grinning from ear to ear. Lance could hear Keith sigh, but he started singing nonetheless. The two of them fooled around on the beach, singing and dancing in the rain. But all things come to an end eventually. 'We have to head back', Keith said. 'The rest is probably getting worried.'

'Yeah', Lance agreed. 'Let's go.'

.

Lance was immediately pulled into a tight but his mother when they arrived back home. To his surprise, everyone was still awake. 'We heard what happened, mijo', his mother said. Lance knew she meant more than what just happened on the mission. 'Lo siento, mamá', Lance whispered. 'Don't apologize', his mother said. 'You've got nothing to apologize for.' She hugged him a moment longer before letting him go. Veronica immediately walked up to him and punched him in the arm before pulling him into a hug. 'Don't ever die again, you heard me?' She told him.

'I don't think that's how it works', Lance said with a smile.

'I don't care', his sister replied.

'And you better tell us the next time something happens', Pidge warned, joining the hug.

'Yeah', Hunk agreed. 'Don't keep stuff like that from us.' Soon, it turned into a massive group hug. Lance felt warm and loved. He was more at peace than he had in a long time.


	5. Chapter 5

'Hola mis amores! Today I'm finally filming my first video as the official creative producer of the intergalactic Voltron video channel! I'm Marco McClain, the younger brother of Lance McClain, the red and former blue paladin. After brainstorming with my co-producer, Coran the gorgeous man, we've decided to start it off with a prank video! Unfortunately, I won't be locking them up in a maze and let them be chased by a giant boulder. Sorry, Coran. Instead, I'll be waking our sleeping beauties Lance and Keith up with this.' Marco held up his air horn. 'This, ladies and gentlemen, is an air horn. An earthen instrument designed for pranks like this. They make a _lot_ of noise. The plan is simple. I'll sneak into their room- they share a room by the way- and I'll make sure they never forget this day for the rest of their lives. Let's go!' Marco grabbed his camera and quietly sneaked into Lance's room, both Keith and Lance were sleeping peacefully. Time to change that. 'Okay', Marco whispered. 'Here we go.'

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An ear-splitting horn blasted through the room. Lance's body immediately went into emergency-combat mode. His Bayard was in his hand in an instant and he had aimed it at the intruder before he even realized what he was doing.

 _'Oh shit_ , WAIT!'

Lance blinked upon hearing his brother's voice. His brain finally catching up with what was happening. Marco was standing at the end of his bed with an air horn and camera in his hands. Keith was behind him with his knife at Marco's throat and _oh my god Lance had aimed his gun at Marco._ Lance immediately dropped his Bayard. Keith stepped back as well. 'What the quiznack!' Lance yelled, still shocked by what just happened. 'Are you okay? Did we hurt you? Why would you do that?! Oh my god I almost _shot_ you! Do you even know how dangerous that was?' Lance was freaking out. He knew that Marco meant it as a joke, but Lance couldn't help but think about all the things that could've happened. Marco seemed too shocked for words, Lance didn't know whether that was because he almost got killed or because Lance blew up at him. Lance couldn't remember the last time he yelled at Marco. Hurried footsteps ran up the stairs. In an instant. The entire McClain family was at his doorway. Lace's siblings started to fire questions at them, worried after hearing all the commotion. Lance took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and beckoned for Marco to come closer. Marco stepped forward hesitantly. Lance pulled him into a tight hug. 'Don't scare me like that again', Lance whispered before letting go. Lance gave his brother a smile. 'You do not want to start a prank war with the prank master.' That lightened up the mood. Lance and Keith helped filming the outro before they headed down for breakfast. Still, Lance felt the lingering uneasiness and fear nagging at him, knowing that he aimed a weapon at his brother.

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The McClain family and the Koganes (they were the honorary McClains) were having brunch on the beach. It was Lance's favorite family tradition. But before Lance could even finish his sandwich, the comms went off. Sendek's troops were causing trouble again.

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'What is it this time?' Lance asked exasperatedly. He really didn't want to leave in the middle of brunch. Quiznacking Galras with their quiznacking horrible timing. 'We've picked up three different distress signals', Coran informed them.

'What?!' Keith exclaimed. 'What do you mean _three_?'

'Word of your battle with Lotor has gotten out', Coran said. 'The Galras are fighting and conquering planets again to prove that they are worthy to be the emperor. I've also been informed that Sendek has been expanding his troops.'

' _Fuck'_ , Lance cursed. 'What are we going to do?'

'Coran, request for backup form the Rebels and the Blade', Keith instructed. 'We can't do this alone.'

'I'm on it!' Coran said.

'As for the rest of us', Keith continued. 'We'll have to split up and race to the other fight the moment we finish our own.'

'We can't split up!' Hunk protested. 'Then we won't be able to form Voltron!'

'It's the only way', Keith insisted.

'He's right', Shiro said. 'As much as I hate the idea of splitting the team up, there's no other choice.'

'What are the teams?' Pidge asked. Keith seemed to think about it for a second. 'Pidge and Lance, you guys head to the first planet. Allura and Hunk should go to the second one and I'll head to the third one and wait for the Blade. Coran, can you send us the coordinates?'

'Consider it done!' The man said enthusiastically.

'Let's go!'

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Needless to say, the fight was exhausting. Lance and Pidge did their best to hold their own until help showed up. Apparently, they'd gotten the worst one out of three and there was only so much they could do on their own. Fortunately, the Rebels showed up and joined the fight. Together, they managed to defeat the Galra fleet. The Rebels stayed behind to help the inhabitants of the planet while Lance and Pidge rushed to help Hunk and Allura. They were finally able to rest when all the Galras were defeated and the team had settled themselves in the living room of the McClain farm, their unofficial meeting spot.

Lance sprawled out on the couch. _'Move'_ , Keith grunted.

' _Uugh',_ Lance responded, too lazy and tired to even move a finger. 'Oh my god, _move Lance'_ , Keith repeated.

'Just sit on top of him', Hunk said. 'If he doesn't want to share the couch, then he becomes the couch.' That got Lance moving. He did _not_ want Keith to sit on top of him. His poor friend zoned heart wouldn't be able to take it.

 _'Thank you'_ , Keith said sarcastically.

'You're welcome', Lance answered. He ended up being sandwiched by Hunk and Keith. Moments later, abuelita stepped into the living room, carrying various _delicious_ Cuban snacks. She set them down on the coffee table before turning to Lance. _'_ _Ay mi Lancito'_ , she said, looking him over. 'You must be so tired from all the fighting. Don't worry, Abuelita made all your favorites.'

'Gracias abuelita', Lance said, giving her a hug. 'You're the best!'

'I know', she said with a smile. Lance thought that it was the end of their conversation, but then abuelita set her eyes on _Keith._ A shiver went down Lance's spine. _Oh no._ Abuelita pulled out her glasses from her apron pocket. 'I haven't had the chance to properly look at you yet.'

Keith frowned and glanced nervously at Lance, but it was already too late. They couldn't do anything except letting abuelita have her way. Abuelita pinched Keith's cheek and inspected him closely. 'Abuelita…' Lance tried, but she shot him down. 'No, mijo, es muy importante.'

Everyone knew what was going to happen. Pidge was already rolling on the floor, crying with laughter. Hunk was shaking next to Lance, doing his best to keep from bursting out laughing. There were muffled sounds coming from the 'adult table' behind them, meaning that Coran, Allura, and Shiro were also laughing at his (their?) expenses. Abuelita took Keith's face in her hands and turned his head in different directions to inspect his face. 'Hmm… This purple scar is… unfortunate', she said. 'But he has nice cheekbones and an amazing jawline. His eyes are purple! Si, muy guapo.' Abuelita turned Keith's head so she could take a better look at Keith's hair. She tsked at his mullet. Lance would've laughed if he wasn't so mortified. Eventually, after what felt like centuries, Abuelita let go of Keith. She sighed dramatically. 'I dreamt of having beautiful little Lancitos y Lancitas, but I guess it doesn't get better than this.'

'Abuelita noooo!' Lance whined. Pidge burst out laughing again and this time even Hunk and Shiro couldn't keep it in anymore. Lance's cheeks were burning, he didn't dare to look at Keith. But when he finally mustered up the courage to do so, he saw no trace of embarrassment or disgust on Keith's face, only confusion. Lance let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness that Keith was as dense and oblivious as he could be. 'I'll let you kids have fun now', abuelita said. Lance saw that devious glimmer in her eyes. She had planned this all along. She petted Keith's cheek again just for good measure before _finally_ leaving. The laughter died down. 'What was that about?' Keith asked.

'She... She likes you', Lance said vaguely.

'That's one way to put it', Pidge snorted.

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Everyone decided to stay for dinner. It was nice and peaceful until it wasn't anymore. Of course Lance had to start another heated debate about the Voltron chant, and of course Lance had to strike back after Keith 'accidentally' launched a spoonful of peas at Lance. Things escalated from there. Lance and Keith were so caught up in their food fight that they didn't notice the tension in the room. 'LANCE ALEJANDRO MCCLAIN!' Maria shouted. Lance and Keith both froze. _'Ooh, she used the middle name'_ , Pidge whispered.

'What are the rules about food fights in this house?' Lance's mother asked cooly.

'No food fights unless everyone gets to join?' Lance tried.

' _Lance',_ his mother warned.

'Lo siento mamá.' Lance muttered

'And Keith', Krolia said sternly. 'We are the guests in this house. This is _not_ how you repay their hospitality.' Lance glanced at Keith, whose eyes were wide open in shock. A sudden realization hit him. A grin crept onto Lance's face.' 'You've never been scolded by your mom, have you?' Lance asked. Keith blushed and looked away. 'Shut up', he mumbled.

 _'Keith'_ , Krolia warned.

'Sorry.' He said.

'Oh my god he listens!' Shiro gasped. 'I never thought I'd live to see this day.' He wiped away a fake tear. If looks could kill, then Shiro would be dead a thousand time over by now. Lance couldn't help but laugh. 'Lance!' Maria scolded. 'That's it. You're cleaning everything up. Including the dishes.'

'But _mamá!'_ Lance protested.

'No buts!' Lance shut up immediately. His mom was scary when she got angry. 'You'll be joining Lance, Keith ', Krolia said.

'And no fighting', Maria added.

'Yes, mom.' 'Si, mamá.' The two of them said in unison as they hung their heads in defeat.

.

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'My mom hangs out with yours too much', Keith told Lance when they were cleaning. Lance laughed, earning himself a slap with a dirty dish towel.

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The attacks become more and more frequent, to the point where they couldn't handle it anymore. As a solution, they created a rotating system where two or three of them go on a mission while the others get to rest a bit. They were all small scaled attacks so as long as they had backup from either the Rebels or the Blade, it was all right. Krolia even managed to get her hands on a Galra fighter jet or two, no one knows how, but they weren't complaining. But even with the new system, the paladins were tired all the time and they never seemed to be able to let their guard down. 'These attacks might be part of a larger scheme', Shiro had warned. 'First, they tire us out, then they launch a full-scale attack on Earth or another planet that's vital to the coalition.' The Holts had been working more intensely with the Garrison to get Earth's barrier up and running ever since Shiro had voiced those thoughts. Meanwhile, Earth had agreed to join the coalition and they allowed Voltron to set up a temporary base on Earth. A huge crew of workers, mostly Earthen and Olkarian, were working hard to rebuild the Castle of Lions. Lance occasionally brought Marco to the space mall or galactic conventions so he could meet his new fans. The Voltron channel had become a gigantic hit. The best thing since 'Borbor's Brain Bean' according to Coran, whatever that might be. The Voltron merchandises were being sold like hot cakes, making it possible to rebuild the castle without using exploiting the Altean royal chest.

Every week, at least one of the paladins was on 'star-duty', meaning that they had to help film a new video. It was a nice way to relax, really.

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After a month of non-stop fighting, Lance and Keith were once again woken up in the middle of the night. It was their turn to fight, along with Hunk. 'Where are we headed?' Lance asked.

'A planet nearby', Pidge answered through the comms. 'It's part of the solar system next to ours.'

'Pidge?' Lance asked. 'Where Coran?'

'He went to the Weblum with Allura to get scaultite for the new castle.' Lance could hear Hunk shudder through the comms. 'I'm _never_ going back there again.' Hunk said.

'Me neither', Keith agreed.

'Hey Pidge, shouldn't you be sleeping though?' Lance asked. They were supposed to be resting after all.

'Shouldn't you be minding your own business?' Pidge snapped. Yeah, they definitely needed to sleep. 'But if you _really_ want to know. The garrison is full of incompetent idiots who treat me like a child while they fuck up every instruction they get. So I'm just going to do this on my own.'

'Can't you just ask your dad for some help or something?' Lance suggested. 'Or one of the Olkarians? You shouldn't be doing this on your own.'

'Yeah, you're right', Pidge sighed. 'But let's just focus on the mission. The sooner you're done, the sooner I can sleep.'

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The mission was easy: Shoot the ships out of the sky, defeat the infantry, accept the people's undying gratitude, and go home to catch some Zs. The ships were relatively easy to take care off. After his talk with Keith, Lance was slowly recovering from his trauma. He also had a lot of opportunities to face his fears, and since it was usually a matter of life and death, Lance had learned to suppress those memories and feeling pretty fast.

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Lance hid behind a rock at the edge of a cliff. He had a clear view of the battlefield beneath him. Lance took a breath and tilted his rifle. He shut one eye and looked through the lens. One by one, the sentries hit the ground. Lance took care of as many sentries as he could from where he was. But the problem with sniping was that he as the sniper, was vulnerable while doing his job. Lance had trained himself to pick up every movement around him while sniping. It was a skill that he had yet to perfect since he didn't take teenage hormones into account when he first started. Meaning that he broke his concentration every time he Keith flipped his hair after taking care of another group of androids.

Lance suddenly felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up. He rolled away just in time. A sword was stabbed into the ground where his head was just moments ago. Lance's Bayard transformed into a sword as he jumped to his feet. He was being surrounded by three sentries. Lance swung his sword at one of the robots. Its head landed a couple of feet away. Lance took a step back and jumped, falling from his sniping spot onto the battlefield. He used his jetpack to avoid becoming a Lance shaped stain on the ground. The two sentries jumped after him, but they broke into a million pieces of Galra tech. Lance knew he'd been spotted when another group of sentries came charging at him. They spread out to block his escape paths. Lance braced himself for the fight. But just as he was about to raise his sword and charge, he heard Hunk cry out 'Keith' with so much panic in his voice that Lance knew something was wrong. He snapped his head around to see Hunk fighting his way to Keith, who was, being backed into a corner by three sentries while protecting a group of small children. Keith was an amazing fighter, but even he couldn't fight off three sentries and protect the children at the same time. Lance had a choice to make: Either take a shot or defend himself from the sentries charging at him. He only had seconds to lose, but it wasn't really a choice now, was it? Lance's Bayard changed into his rifle again as he turned around and took aim, leaving his back open and defenceless. He made three shots. The sentries surrounding Keith and the children fell to the ground. Suddenly, Lance was pushed forward by a force from behind. He looked down to see the tip of a sword stick out of his stomach before it was pulled back out. Lance fell to his knees. His ears were ringing and his sight was blurry. Lance placed a hand on where the sword had been, only to see it was dripping with blood when he lifted it to see. Lance didn't know how much time had passed. He only knew that he felt dizzy and that the ground was suddenly a lot closer than he thought it was. Someone was removing his helmet. His stomach felt warm. He heard screaming. Someone was picking him up. His eyelids were heavy, he wanted to sleep… _Slap_. Lance's eyes shot open. His cheek was throbbing. All he saw was a blur of red, white, and black. Somehow, he knew it was Keith. ' _I'm sorry_ ', he whispered before his eyes fluttered closed again.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith tapped his foot nervously as he stared at the closed door in front of him. He hadn't been allowed to follow Lance and the doctors after this point. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder and Keith turned. 'Hey', Shiro said. 'Let's go sit down, okay?' 'But-' 'The doctors are doing their best, but it will still take a while. It's going to be all right, Keith. He'll make it through.'

Keith slapped Shiro's hand off his shoulder. 'It's not going to be all right', he gritted. 'We don't know if Lance is going to make it. He got _impaled_ , Shiro. I saw that sentry pull its fucking sword out of Lance's back. _Fuck!_ If I had paid more attention to my surroundings, if I hadn't let myself be backed into that corner with those kids, Lace wouldn't have to sacrifice himself. I we still had the castle, the healing pods…' Keith was basically yelling at this point, but he didn't care. 'If Allura and Coran hadn't fucked off to god knows where, then she could've healed him with her magic. But Allura's not here, and Lance is probably bleeding out on that table right now, and it will all be _my fault.'_

'Keith, calm down', Shiro said, grabbing his arm. ' _Breathe_. None of this is your fault, and you know it. Don't forget that we're fighting a war. It was Lance who made the decision to save you and those children on the battlefield, respect that. He's not going to die, Keith. We just need him to hold on a little longer until the doctors stabilize his conditions, then we can transfer him to the Blade's healing pods.' He pulled Keith into a tight hug. 'Remember: patience yields focus.' Keith took a deep breath. Shiro was right. Now wasn't the time have a breakdown. He needed to stay focussed.

'Where's Hunk?' Keith asked when Shiro let him go. He hadn't seen the yellow paladin since he assured Keith that he could hold the Galra off on his own until reinforcement arrived. 'He's in the waiting room with Pidge', Shiro said. 'The McClains are on their way, and Krolia's with them.' Keith could feel the panic arise at the mention of Lance's family. How was he going to look Maria in the eye and tell her that her son had sacrificed himself for him? The McClains had welcomed Krolia and him into their family, they trusted him as the leader of Voltron, and Keith couldn't even keep Lance safe on a simple mission. They were all going to hate him, and Keith didn't think that he'd be able to handle it. The panic must've been clearly written on his face, since Shiro squeezed his shoulder and once again reminded him to breathe. 'Don't worry about the McClains', he said with a soft smile. 'I'll do the talking.' Keith nodded numbly and let himself be led to the waiting room. There weren't many people around in the middle of the night, just Pidge, Hunk, a man in a dark hoodie, an anxious looking family, and an on-duty nurse. The atmosphere was incredibly tense and there was one flickering light that was annoying the shit out of Keith. He hated it there.

'Imma head to the coffee machine and get some coffee', Shiro announced. 'I'll be back in a tick.' Keith watched Shiro disappear behind a set of white doors and he set himself down beside Hunk. 'Any news?' Hunk asked hopefully. Keith shook his head and sunk further down in the hard plastic chair. 'He's still in surgery.' They didn't talk again after that. Keith stared at the clock above the reception, trying his best to block out his thoughts until Pidge broke the silence. 'It's not looking good, is it?' They said quietly. 'He got stabbed with a sword, what are the chances that it missed a vital organ? Not to mention all the blood that he lost.' 'Pidge…' Hunk said, but they continued. 'There wasn't a stretcher or anything relatively flat that Lance could be carried on, that must've worsened _something._ And how long did it even take to get him here? Time is crucial in these situations, and-'

'STOP!' Keith yelled, effectively shutting Pidge up. 'Stop it', he said again, softer this time. ' _Please.'_ Both Pidge and Hunk were crying at this point. Keith was close to tears himself, but he wouldn't allow himself to cry. Crying would mean that he'd already given up on Lance, and Keith didn't want to give up. Not when there's still a chance that Lance could make it, however slim that change might be. Keith had hope, and he was holding on to it as tight as he could.

Shiro returned with four cups of steaming coffee sometime later. Keith barely tasted its bitterness as he sipped his scolding hot drink. He was too caught up in his own thoughts. Everyone perked up when a nurse entered the waiting room, but she came to announce the birth of a healthy little girl to the family on the other side of the room. Keith sank back into his chair. He couldn't care less about the birth of that little girl. He couldn't bring himself to feel happy for another when his entire body is filled with dread and anxiety. Some time passed again, or maybe it didn't. Either way, the waiting room was filled with that deafening silence again. The phone at the reception went off and the nurse picked it up. 'I'm looking for the owner of the giant mechanic cat?' She announced. Keith sighed and walked over to the reception. 'That's me', he said. 'Did I leave my headlights on?' The nurse didn't seem to appreciate the lousy attempt at a joke. 'We've gotten quite a few complaints about it', she said. 'So I'd like to ask you move your vehicle elsewhere, sir.' There's no way that Keith was going back to his lion unless it's to bring Lance to the Blade. 'I'm not moving my lion', Keith gritted, 'so you can take your complaints and stick 'em up your-'

'Okay, that's enough', Shiro said, shooting Keith a stern look. He turned toward the nurse. 'We're very sorry for the inconveniences we've caused, but we'll be needing the lion to transfer our friend to another facility once he's out of surgery. I've already spoken with the head of the hospital, and we do not want to cause a ruckus right now.' He shot Keith another look. 'Just give us a little while longer and we'll be out of your hair.' The woman nodded wordlessly, no doubt incredibly charmed Shiro's perfect manners and handsome face. _It's just like that time we got into trouble with Adam,_ Keith thought, annoyed. _Adam…SHIT!_ Keith's head shot up to look at Shiro. How could he forget about the existence of his brother's (ex-?) fiancé? Keith was about to open his mouth when the door slammed open and the entire McClain family stormed in. Keith stood frozen to the spot, unable to move as Maria made her way over to him with large and steady steps. Shiro looked as if he wanted to say something, but she walked straight pass him. Keith turned his head away as Maria stopped in front of him, unable to look her in the eye and waiting for the inevitable outburst. He waited, but nothing happened. Instead, he was surprised when he felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his middle and pulling him into a tight hug. Keith was too shocked to react, his arms hung limply at his side as Maria squeezed the breath out of him. 'Ay, mijo, are you hurt?' She asked worriedly as she stepped back to check for injuries. 'Oh, thank God you're all right.' She caressed his cheek softly before she left to fuss over Hunk. Keith was still trying to process what just happened when his own mother approached him. 'I'm sorry about the red paladin.' She said. 'Lance, mom', Keith replied quietly. 'His name is Lance.'

The door opened again and a doctor hurried into the room. 'Voltron?' She asked.

'That'd be us', Shiro said, stepping forward. The doctor turned to him. 'We've managed to stabilize his conditions for now, but we're not sure how long that's going to last. He needs better medical treatment than we can offer. I've been informed that you know where to go?'

'Yes we do', Shiro answered. 'But we'll need a few medics to join us on the trip in case anything happens.'

'I already have a team that's preparing the patient right now', the doctor said. 'The helicopter will be up and running in ten if you give me the address of the other medical facility.'

'We don't need a helicopter', Shiro said. 'We have a spaceship.' The doctor seemed taken aback by Shiro's words. 'Sir, the patient is in no condition to board a spaceship. The take-off alone could kill him!'

'No it won't', Keith said, looking the doctor in the eye. 'Black is the only way to bring him to the base.' She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. 'We're not responsible if anything goes wrong on the journey', she warned. 'The hospital will not be held accountable.'

Shiro nodded solemnly. 'We understand.'

'Good.' The doctor turned around and hurried out of the room, no doubt going to help with the preparations. 'I'm coming with you', Maria announced. Keith wanted to argue, but the look in her eyes told him that nothing would change her mind. 'Follow me', he said instead.

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The trip to the Blade of Marmora was nerve-racking. Keith had a group of strangers in his lion who were trying their best to keep Lance alive, he had Maria silently standing next to him in his cockpit, and a grumpy Kolivan frowning at him while Keith updated him on the situation. 'The pod has already been prepared', Kolivan said at last. 'The healing process can begin immediately after your arrival.' Keith thanked him before ending the connection. He sighed. The trip was still going to take some time since the base was about three hundred lightyears away from earth. Why was the universe so damn large? Keith was going as fast as he could without being too reckless. He couldn't take any risks, not when Lance's life is at stake. He just hoped that they wouldn't bump into any stray Galra ships.

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Kolivan wasn't happy to see a bunch of strangers show up at his base, but he still offered them a place to rest. 'I want them to leave as soon as they're fit for the journey back to Earth', Kolivan told Keith when the doctors were led away. Keith nodded. 'Yes, sir.' Kolivan left the infirmary without another word, leaving Keith and Maria alone. It was quiet for a long time, the silence was suffocating. Keith couldn't stand it anymore, he needed the answer to the question that had been haunting him ever since he saw Maria at the hospital. 'Why don't you hate me?' Keith asked quietly as he stared at his feet. 'I'm the reason Lance got hurt.' He heard Maria sigh. 'I don't know the whole story', she said, 'only the bits and pieces that Pidge told me.' Keith heard her step closer but he kept his eyes fixed on the ground. He only looked up when Maria gently placed a hand on his cheek and lifted his head **.** 'But I know one thing for sure', she said with a small smile. 'And that is that I can't hate you for what happened to Lance. I don't want to.' She took a step back and sat down on in front of the healing pod. She motioned for Keith to sit down next to her. He did so hesitantly. Maria put an arm around Keith's shoulder and gently guided his head to her shoulder. It was such a simple gesture, but it made Keith feel like a little kid again, so vulnerable yet so safe and warm. Keith automatically snuggled closer to her. He was embarrassed when he realized what he'd done, but Maria didn't seem to mind. Instead, she combed her fingers his hair affectionately. Keith could feel Maria's voice when she finally spoke again. 'Lance was never the strongest or the smartest of the family, and when Marco came around, he also lost the title as the little baby brother. We have a large family and I am grateful to have them all in my life. But it is also very chaotic, and as a mother, it means that I can't always give my children the attention they want. I think that's why Lance never felt like he was enough. He tries so hard to show everyone what he's worth that he forgets that he's already perfect to the ones who truly love him. We don't want him to change, we just want him to be happy.' She paused. 'Mi Lancito, he has such a big heart. And he has so much love to give! When he loves, he loves with all his heart. He always tries to help, always puts others before him, even strangers who he's never met. He's always thinking of others, but never spares a single thought for himself. He doesn't think he's worth it, and it breaks my heart. Maybe that's why he's such a hopeless romantic, he needs someone to love him as much as he loves everyone else. He's always giving, he needs someone to show him that it's okay to be the one receiving as well.' Maria sighed. 'I know what you're thinking, if I knew all this, why didn't I do anything about it? The truth is that I didn't realise any of this until it was too late. When my little boy was already gone. I've spent so many sleepless nights thinking about him, regretting that I hadn't told him that I loved him often enough. Because I do, I love him and all my other children no matter what.' She shifted a bit so she could look Keith in the eye. 'You brought my son back to me. You're the reason why I can still have a chance to tell him that I love him and see him smile. That's why I can never hate you, Keith. I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for saving him. For rushing him to the other side of the universe for help. And most importantly, for making him happy. Because I see that he makes you happy too.' She added with a little smile. Keith blushed. 'Yes', he said. 'Yes he does.'

Keith could see that Maria was tired so he offered her his old room. 'I'm not tired', he assured her. 'I still have caffeine pumping through my system.' Maria was hesitant to leave the infirmary though. 'I don't want him to be alone', she said, looking at Lance's pale form in the healing pod. 'I'll stay with him', Keith promised her. 'He won't be alone.' He walked with her to his old room. Maria insisted that he at least took one of the extra blankets with him. 'It's cold out here', she said. 'I don't want you to catch a cold.' So Keith made his way back to the infirmary with the blankets and settled at the foot of Lance's pod. He leaned against the cool glass and looked up. 'Please come back to me', he whispered softly.

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Keith was reluctant to the Marmora base, but he didn't have a choice. The Galra wouldn't wait until Lance was healed to continue the war. Keith said his goodbyes and requested to be informed if there were changes in Lance's conditions. Keith made sure to drop the doctors off at the hospital before returning to the McClain farm where the others were waiting. Allura and Coran had returned from the Weblum and were filled in on the situation. Allura offered to try heal Lance with her Altean magic, but Coran advised against it since they didn't know what the consequences might be if they interrupted the pod's healing process. They also needed everyone be as fit as they could be for battle, they couldn't afford to lose another paladin. All they could do was continue fighting and try to keep it a secret that the red paladin was out of commission. Everyone tried to drop by the Blade as often as possible to check on Lance and the amount to post mission meetings held at the Blade of Marmora base grew. The pod showed that Lance's condition was slowly improving, but it was also clear that he wasn't waking up anytime soon.

Keith started to feel restless all the time, the nagging sense of worry at the back of his mind was slowly driving him crazy. It was just like Shiro's disappearance all over again, except he didn't have Lance to help him through this time. So Keith began to train as often and as he could, kept on pushing himself to the limit. He volunteered to go on every single mission available. He was working himself to the bone, but it kept his mind off Lance, so he continued. The others must've caught on to what he was doing eventually, because they banned him from going on more than four missions a week and forced him to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. Krolia and Maria teamed up to enforce the rules and they even threatened to have Cosmo guard his room each night if he disobeyed. After a while Keith fell into a routine. Every morning, he'd wake up, train a bit, drive Marco to school, and either go on a mission or head to the Garrison afterwards. Sometimes he helped Shiro and Adam train the new fighter pilots, or he'd hang out with Hunk and Pidge while they helped building the new Castle. He'd train some more after dinner and then call it a night. Days passed, turning into weeks and two months passed by in a flash.

The Voltron crew assembled at the Garrison when Kolivan called for an emergency meeting. Nearly all representatives of the coalitions were present. 'My informants reported that the Galra are now certain that the red paladin is unfit to fight. Sendak has rallied all his troops and is preparing for a large scaled attack soon.'

'Any idea when Sendak's planning to strike?' Shiro asked. 'Unfortunately, no', Kolivan answered. 'We must be prepared to strike back at any given moment. I have already called back every Blade member. The rebellion and all the coalition members should prepare for battle. We'll need the strength in numbers.'

'The replacement for the Castle of Lions is also near completion', Sam said. 'We've altered the original design so it's more suited for battle. We've also combined the earthen technology with Olkarian and Altean tech. Right now, the Atlas is the most advanced spaceship in this quarter of the universe.'

'I hope your ship will be able to hold out against the fleet of Galra battle cruisers', Kolivan said. 'It's going to be a tough fight without Voltron.'

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The next couple of days were tense. Everyone was hurrying to finish the final preparation before Sendak's inevitable attack. Earth's defence system still wasn't perfect yet, but the shield could at least hold out for a couple of hours if needed. The engineers at the Garrison worked day and night to get the Atlas up and running. The rebels and the Blade spy's tried to gather as much information about Sendak's plan. And Keith was racking his brain trying to come up with a strategy to defeat Sendak without Voltron. He couldn't. They needed Voltron to defeat the Galra for good. If they failed now, all the coalition members will lose their faith in Voltron and everything they've achieved would be in vain. If they failed, Earth would fall into the hands of the Galra. Keith thought of Maria and her family, of the Holts and the Garrets, of Hoshiko and Adam. Hell, he even thought of that asshole James Griffin. None of these people deserved to be subjected to the horrors that the Galra brought with them. Keith was the Black Paladin. He was going to do whatever he had to do to keep the Galra from destroying everything and everyone he loved.

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The alarm went off during breakfast. It was followed by a phone call from Shiro. 'The Galra fleet has been spotted just outside of our solar system', he said. 'Get to your lion. We're under attack.' Keith changed into his armor in record time and was rushing out the door. Maria pulled him into a hug before he could leave. 'Come back to us safely', she said as the other McClains yelled encouraging wordsas 'Don't die!' and 'Show those aliens not to mess with earth!' 'I will', Keith promised. Maria let him go with a sad smile. 'Keith!' Krolia called. Keith ran after his mother to the Black lion and the fighter jet. 'Good luck out there', she told him before they parted. 'I love you, Keith.' 'I love you too mom', Keith said. He smiled at her one last time before he boarded his lion. It was time to win a war.

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Lance woke up and suddenly he was falling. He tried to take a step forward to prevent himself from face planting but his feet were caught in some kind of fabric. Lance's knees hit the ground painfully. Disorientated, Lance took in the dark room around him. He didn't recognize any of it. _Where am I_? Lance remembered getting stabbed, he remembered the intense pain that followed. Did he get captured by the Galra? Did they heal him to attain information about the coalition? Lance felt the panic rise up. He was hyperventilating. What happened to Keith and Hunk? Were they safe? Either way, he needed to get out of here. _Okay,_ Lance thought to himself. _Calm down_. _I need a plan._ If he was captured, then it's most likely that he door was locked and guarded. How was he going to get past them? Lance didn't have his armor, he was only wearing his pants. Nothing in the room could pass as a weapon, but maybe he could strangle someone with the blanket? In the unlikely situation that he managed to get out of the room undetected, he needed to find out where he was and how to get to the nearest escape pod. If he managed to do that, he just needed contact his team and hope he doesn't die in space before they come to get him. It wasn't really a plan, but it was all he could come up with at the moment. Lance quietly made his way over to the door. If he could hear what was going on on the other side, then perhaps he could figure out the guards' shifts and come up with a better escape plan. Lance pressed his ear against the door and suddenly he was falling again. He fell flat on the cool ground on the other side of the door. Lance jumped up immediately, expecting laser guns to be shoved in his face, but there weren't any guards. In fact, the entire hallway was empty. _Weird._ Lance thought as he took in the dimly lit hallway. _And creepy._ Lance heard hurried footsteps coming toward him. They must've found out that he left the room. Before Lance could do anything, someone appeared around the corner. His instincts kicked in and he positioned himself in a fighting stance. The Galra rushing toward him was almost twice as tall as he was, but unarmed and… wearing the Blade of Marmora armor? The Galra stopped when she saw him. 'Paladin?' She asked, apparently equally confused to see him as he was to see her. 'Yeah', Lance said. 'Can you tell me what's going on?' The Galra's face turned serious. 'There's no time to explain', she said, grabbing his arm. 'We have to go, Voltron is needed. I'll explain on the way.' She led him to a ship where several other members were waiting on her arrival. They too were surprised to see him. The Galra Lady, Rayx she'd told him, told him that there was a spare change of armor in the back before telling the pilot that they were ready to leave. One of the Blades, who'd introduced himself as Nandox, handed him the armor when Lance couldn't find it. It was a bit too big since it was made for Galra, but it was still better than rushing into battle shirtless. 'So', Lance said, 'now that we're all here on this ship headed wherever. Can someone please tell me what's going on?'

'Sendak had rallied his troops and is leading a full-fledged attack on Voltron and its allies', Rayx told him. 'He knows that the paladins weren't capable of forming Voltron without you. He planned on striking when we are at our weakest.' 'All able bodied soldiers have been sent to fight', Nandox added. 'It'll be the largest battle since Naxzela.'

'It's being broadcasted throughout the universe', another Blade member said- Nyrin if Lance remembered correctly. 'I have it here.' Lance rushed over to look at her screen. The battle was intense. The screen was colored purple by the amount of Galra cruisers and laser beams. The Lions and rebel ships were vastly outnumbered, but it didn't stop them from fighting back. The screen cut to the footage of the paladins inside their lions. Lance couldn't hear what they were saying- it'd be stupid to broadcast your plans for your enemies to hear- but Lance could see from the look of their faces that this wasn't going to be an easy fight. It cut back to the battle and Lance heard Marco commentating in the background. Lance couldn't look away from the screen. He wanted desperately to be there and fight against the Galra forces. _Please,_ he thought, _please hold out a little longer until I'm there._

 _._

 _._

 _._

The closer they were to Earth, the stronger Lance could feel Red's presence at the back of his mind. Red was restless too, eager to join the fight and help defend the universe. _Come,_ Lance called. He wasn't sure if it would work. The red lion had left on its own to save Keith before, but Lance didn't know if his bond with Red was good enough for her to come at his request. 'We're almost there.' Nandox said, snapping Lance out of his thoughts. 'Nyrin, go take your place besides Kantod. Rayx, take the left canon, I'll man the main canon.' Nyrin and Rayx saluted and hurried to their position. Nandox turned his attention to Lance. 'Do you know how to get to your lion?' He asked. 'I've tried calling my lion', Lance told him. 'But I'm not sure if that worked. Maybe I can take an escape pod and fly to earth, but I don't want to leave you guys without one.' 'Your concern is touching, Paladin', Nandox said. 'But we are Galra, we do not run away from a fight. It's victory or death.' _Right._ Lance forgot about that little detail. 'Sir!' Kantod called from the cockpit. 'The radars have picked up on an approaching ship. It's faster than any Galra cruiser I know.' Lance felt Red calling out to him and he rushed over to the nearest window. 'It's not a cruiser', he said. 'It's my lion!'

Red arrived at the ship a few seconds later. Lance thanked the crew and clasped hands with Nandox for the last time before leaving. 'I hope you and your crew survive', Lance said. 'I don't want you guys to miss out on the epic celebration we're having afterward.' Nandox smiled. 'The same could be said to you, we don't want you to end up in one of our pods again.' 'I won't', Lance promised him. 'Go paladin. The universe needs you.'

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Lance's bayard laid on his pilot seat when he entered the cockpit. Someone must've cleaned it and placed it there for when he returned. Lance sat down and grabbed the controls. 'I've missed you, girl', Lance told red. Red's purring filled his mind. 'Let's go. We've made them wait long enough.'

The closer they got to the battlefield, the more debris lance had to manoeuvre through. At first he thought he was passing through an asteroid field, but they turned out to be wracks of Galra and rebel ships. Lance wanted to check for survivors, but he knew he had to get to the fight before everyone else ended up like this. _I'm sorry_ , he thought, blinking back a few tears. He tightened the grip on his controls. Red sped up, going faster than either of them had gone before. Lance gritted his teeth. _Just a little longer._

 _._

 _._

 _._

Lance finally arrived at the centre of the battlefield. He had fought his way thought a number of fighter jets and had taken down one or two battle cruisers before he even saw his teammates. He scanned the battlefield. He was the lions, each fighting a different battle ship. Lance wanted to call out to them, but then he realised that he didn't have his communicator. 'Oh fuck it' _,_ he muttered. 'It's no time for reunions anyway.' Lance barrel rolled out of the way of a laser beam and managed to damage the ship with his own lasers. He finished it off by crashing the jets that were tailing him into the ship. Lance then rushed over to help out a group of rebel ships that were having trouble before heading off to take care another ship. Lance did what he could, but it wasn't enough. Every time he managed to take down a ship, an endless fleet of other ships would just take its place. He couldn't communicate with the rest of his team, and fighting without a plan was as frustrating as it was useless **.** A small screen suddenly popped up in his view. It looked like an incoming skype call from an unknown caller. Lance had no idea how to pick it up, he never had to add a new contact to his lion before. Red helped him out and told him which button to press. Sam Holt's face appeared in the corner as Lance dodge out of the way of an incoming attack. 'Lance!' Sam said. 'It's good to see you!' 'Yeah', Lance gritted as he provided cover for Hunk. 'It's good to be back.' 'I can't hear you', he heard Sam say. 'Pidge installed a new communication system when you were gone. But I need you to connect the audio as well before I can connect you to the rest of the team.' 'I'm a little busy right now', Lance said, even though he knew the other man couldn't hear him. 'You just need to flip the switch on your right to connect the audio', Sam instructed. Lance glanced over to his right side for a second before refocussing on the fight. There were too many damn switches, he didn't have the time to figure out which one was the right one. It took him some time to take out the enemy ships that surrounded Hunk and him before he could take another look at the switches. Once again, Red helped him out. 'Thanks, girl.' Lance smiled. 'We've got audio!' He heard Sam call out. 'Connect him to the other paladins ASAP!' A moment later, he could see the other paladins and Shiro. 'Lance!' They called out. 'I'm so glad you're well again', Allura said. 'Yeah, bud', Hunk agreed. 'And thanks for covering me back there. Couldn't have done it without you.' 'You're welcome, buddy.' Lance grinned.

'I can't believe you're here', Pidge said. 'And you're just in time to help us kick Sendak's ass.'

We both know that it takes more than a simple stab wound to kill me, Pidge', Lance told them. Keith scoffed. ' _Simple stab wound._ You've been in a pod for two months, Lance.' 'I know you guys want to catch up', Shiro said, interrupting Lance before he could respond to Keith. 'But we still have a war to fight.' 'What's the plan?' Lance asked instead.

'I'm sure you've noticed that there are a five ships that are _way_ bigger than the others', Pidge said. 'Those are equipped with a new type of canon. According to Kolivan, those canons are designed to lock on to their targets, our lions, and keep on shooting until the target's eliminated. They do a shit ton of damage. If our lions get hit, it'll take a long time for them to recover.'

'Sendak was planning on taking out all the lions', Hunk continued. 'He knew we couldn't form Voltron and he wanted to keep it that way. No lions, no Voltron. No Voltron, no more annoying teenagers keeping him from taking over the universe.' 'That sounds like a good plan', Lance hummed. 'Too bad I'm not comatose anymore. Let's from Voltron and take those canons out before they start aiming it at anyone.' 'Yeah!' The team yelled in agreement. 'The rebels and The Blade of Marmora will take care of the cruisers guarding the canons', Shiro told them. 'The Atlas will join as soon as possible. We're having some minor problems with lift-off.'

'Don't tell me you built a spaceship that can't even get to space', Lance said in disbelieve. 'It can get to space', Shiro assured him. 'Coran's working on it. He said it was something with the crystal. It'll be solved in no time.'

'We'll keep a couple of small cruisers for you to shoot when you finally show up', Keith smirked. 'Team, form Voltron!'

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The fight became easier after they formed Voltron. The power boost that came with it was just what they needed. 'Lance!' Keith called as they headed toward the nearest canon. 'Form sword!' They fought their way through the fleet of Cruisers surrounding it. The canons were powering up, there wasn't much time left before all the canons were ready to fire. They had cut through the last battle cruiser in their way and were charging at the canon at full speed when they rammed into a shield that wasn't there before. The impact itself was already quite painful, but the shield was also electrically charged. It added a very nasty shock. 'So that didn't work', Lance panted when then were at a safe distance from the shield again. 'What are we going to do?' 'We're going to blast a hole through it', Keith said. 'Hunk, shoulder canon!' The canon appeared and they fired at the shield with all they got. It didn't work at all. The shield absorbed all the energy from the attack and blasted it right back at them.

They had barely recovered from the previous attack when another energy pulse hit them from behind. 'Pidge!' Keith yelled. 'Shield!' The shield was formed before they even turned to block the attack. Allura and Hunk engaged the thrusters to keep them in place. 'Keith!' Lance called. 'Three o'clock!' It was too late. Another canon fired, hitting them in the side. The other canons had moved and were surrounding them. The other canons fired, keeping Voltron in place with lasers on all sides. Lance cried out. He could feel the others' pain on top his own through Voltron. They wouldn't be able to hold out any longer like this. Lance could feel that Voltron was on the verge of falling apart. He was close to passing out himself. Then the pain suddenly stopped. Lance thought that he was imagining it, that his brain went into shock and stopped feeling anything at all. When his vision cleared, he found himself staring at a gigantic space ship. It looked like the castle of lions, but it was twice or even thrice the size of the original and was decorated with patches of Garrison orange. _Great,_ Lance thought, _now I'm imagining stuff as well._ But then his communication system stopped making static noises and the video returned. 'I'm sorry it took so long', Shiro said. 'But the Atlas has finally arrived.' So he wasn't imagining it after all. 'I knew we could count on you!' Lance grinned. 'Space Dad always has our back!' The other cheered. 'God, I thought I told you guys to stop with that nickname', Shiro groaned. 'Not going to happen', Pidge said. 'You used your veto right on Space Daddy so get used to it.'

'I'm grounding all of you when this is over', Shiro grumbled. 'But now we have to focus on the fight. The Atlas' canons are powerful enough to overload the shields. You will be able to attack the canons when they fall. Remember that the other canons are still locked onto Voltron. Destroy the canon and come back. We can't hold this up forever so you need to do this quick and you need to do this right. We can't afford to fail. Can you do it?'

'Even with the thrusters at full speed, I'm not sure whether we can reach the canon before the other canons hit', Hunk said, voicing his concerns. 'I agree with Hunk', Allura said. 'I'm not sure if our lions have recovered enough to be able to pull off such a strenuous action.'

'Wait, guys!' Lance called 'My bayard port is lighting up!'

'Mine too!' Keith said. 'Let's give it a try.' Lance slammed his bayard into the port and turned. He didn't notice any visible changes. 'Did it do anything?' He asked. 'You have unlocked the wings!' Shiro said. 'Sweet!' Lance grinned. 'Let's do this!'

'We'll fire at three', Shiro announced. 'Coran, be ready to lower the shield in sector 31-A. One…two…three!' Voltron shot forward, following the laser beam through a hole in the castle's barrier. They were going faster than they ever had before. They flew toward the canon as its shield shattered and cut it down with one powerful swing of the sword. They flew out of the blast range again before the explosions even started. 'One down,' Pidge said, 'four to go.' They attacked one canon after another. Things were going incredibly well for them until they reached the last ship, Sendak's ship. The ship transformed into a gigantic robot with the canon perched on its shoulder. 'Of course he had a plan B', Lance muttered to himself.

'We've defeated other robots before', Keith said encouragingly. 'This one won't be any different.' They charged at the robot, switching between different combinations of weapons as they engaged in combat. 'Try to keep it in one place!' Shiro told them. 'Our canons aren't made for tracking fast moving objects.'

'We have to lure it away from the Atlas', Keith said. 'Make sure he's facing away from the Atlas, then we'll make it seem as if our defences are down. Let him try to take a shot at us. Only engage the shield at the last moment. It'll keep Sendak occupied so the Atlas can finish him off from behind.'

'But if Sendak catches on, then Voltron will take the blast', Shiro said, pointing out the flaw in Keith's plan. 'That's a chance we have to take', Keith told him. They continued to engage in close ranged combat with Sendak for a while before they carried out their plan. It made it more believable that Voltron was weakening after a long fight. Everyone was in position. Sekdak's canon was powering up again and Lance could feel the others' nervous anticipation. 'Wait', Keith said. The canon was about to fire. 'Just a little longer.' Purple light filled Lance's vision. 'NOW!' The shield blocked the blast at the last possible moment. The wing were thrusting at full power to keep them in place. 'Shiro', Keith gritted. 'Any time now please.'

'We've locked onto the target', Lance heard someone say. 'Power the canon at full capacity and fire!' Shiro commanded. The purple light turned white as Sendak's robot exploded into pieces. The blast hurled Voltron backward. Lance whistled. 'That's one hell of a canon you've got there.' Shiro laughed. 'Yes indeed.' His tone turned serious again as he said, 'All we have to do now is take out all the remaining cruisers. But that should be nothing compared to what you just went through.'

Fighting the leftover battle cruisers and jet fighters was a piece of cake. It was easy enough that the Paladins started having some light conversation while taking out their enemies. 'I really hope Sendak stays dead this time', Hunk said. 'Maybe we fought a clone. There are an awful lot of clones in space, more than I imagined there would be. Perhaps there's a whole army of Sendaks out there, you know, just like that creepy ship full of Shiros Keith told us about.'

'That's a really depressing thought, man', Lance told him.

'Sorry', Hunk apologized.

'But we have Voltron _and_ Atlas now', Pidge said. 'We'll just kick Sendak's ass again if we need to.'

Hunk hummed in agreement 'That's true.'

'Let's just hope that the Galra learned from their mistake after the last time', Keith said. 'I've had enough of clones. I don't want to see another clone ever again.'

'I agree with Keith', Allura said. 'They really creep me out.'

'Anyway', Lance said, taking down another fleet of jet fighters, 'I can't wait to be done with all this. When we're back on Earth, I'm going to give my family a hug, take a shower, and sleep. The celebration can wait a little while longer. I know I've just come out of a coma, but I feel like I can sleep for another week.'

'Same', Pidge agreed.

'I don't even want to bother with anything', Keith said. 'I think I'm just going to call Cosmo to teleport me right onto my bed when we land. You better not wake me up with your sleep talking.'

'I don't talk in my sleep!' Lance objected.

'No, you _sing_ in your sleep', Keith said. 'That's even worse. And you sing out of tune as well.'

'Well it's better than keeping everyone awake with your snoring!' Lance retorted.

'I do not snore!' Keith exclaimed, affronted.

'Yeah you do', Lance insisted. 'You sound like a little piggy.' They continue their banter while they fought the Galra. Then Lance heard Keith mutter. 'I can't believe I'm in love with this idiot' under his breath. Lance froze and he almost got hit by a laser beam. He couldn't believe his ears. ' _What did you say?'_ He screeched. A look of horror crossed Keith's face as he realized what he'd just said out loud. 'Nothing! _'_ He said hastily.

'I don't know man, it sounded an awful lot like 'I can't believe I'm in love with this idiot' to me', Hunk said helpfully. Lance knew he didn't misheard it! 'I- I did not!' Keith sputtered, blushing furiously. 'Yes you did.' Pidge smirked. 'We all heard it.'

'Focus on the mission!' Keith tried desperately. 'Uhm, no?' Lance said. 'You-'

'Keith is right', Shiro interrupted. 'Finish the fight. You can talk afterwards.' Lance wanted to protest, but he was being shot at by a couple of jet fighters so he begrudgingly did as he was told. 'We're definitely going to talk about this', Lance said, but Keith ignored him. Lance took out as many jets and cruisers as fast as he could. The fatigue he felt earlier completely disappeared. He only had one thought on his mind: End the fight as fast as possible and go to Keith. Lance was getting more and more impatient as the fight dragged on. He _really_ needed some answers. Did Keith really mean what he said? What if he didn't? What if it was just a cruel joke? What if he only said it because it was some kind of dare? _Just like what happened with Jenny Carter in 8_ _th_ _grade_. Lance thought. He knew Keith would never do such a thing, but what if he did? It was driving him crazy. But then whoever was in charge of the remaining Galra _finally_ thought it would be a good idea to retreat. The battle was over. 'Great job, everyone!' Shiro praised as the last Galra ship disappeared out of sight. Everyone was cheering as they headed back to Earth, but Lance was still too caught up in his thoughts to join. He was already planning how he would drag Keith with him to the beach the moment they landed. The sun would probably be setting and the waves would gently hit the shore. Keith would tell him how he felt and then Lance would too and they'd share a romantic kiss. It would be perfect.

But reality's a bitch and Keith flew right past Earth. _That was not part of the plan._

'Wha- Keith!' Lance called. 'Keith come back!' Why wasn't he answering?

'What are you waiting for?' Hunk yelled. 'Go get your man!' Lance didn't need to be told twice. He Rushed after Keith, who was headed straight to the centre of their solar system. Lance let out a breath of relief when Keith touched down on the surface of Venus. He landed Red right next to Black and rushed out of his lion. Which was a terrible idea, because Venus was _hot._ But he _had_ to talk to Keith and he couldn't do that if Keith kept avoiding him.'Keith, please let me in', Lance called. 'My armor's not going to last very long in this heat, and I'm pretty sure it's starting to rain acid.' He didn't know if Keith even hear what he said, but Keith let him into the Lion so Lance didn't really care. Lance nervously made his way to the cockpit. Keith sat curled up in the pilot seat with his knees pulled to his chest. He didn't say a word when Lance entered and continued to ignore him as Lance sat down at his feet, trying to get Keith to at least look at him. Lance sighed when Keith pointedly ignored all Lance's attempts at getting his attention. 'So', Lance said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. 'I guess we need to talk.' Keith remained silent. 'Oh, c'mon!' Lance groaned. 'Help me out a little! Say something, _anything.'_ Still,Keith kept his mouth tightly shut.

Lance leaned back and took a deep breath. 'You know', he said, looking up at the ceiling, 'you really freaked when you flew right past Earth. I thought you were headed straight for the sun. The first time I've had a guy confess his feelings for me and he tries to fling himself into the sun before I get the chance to respond.'

'I was never planning on diving into sun', he heard Keith mutter. Lance snapped his head towards Keith. 'He speaks!' Lance exclaimed. _That's a start_. He thought to himself. 'But, you could've fooled me, though.' Lance continued. 'I'm sure the others thought so too. I've wanted to fling myself into the sun out of embarrassment on multiple occasions too. Remember that time on time on Bjardin? When I complimented that old grandma on her outfit and she thought it was a marriage proposal?'

Keith huffed a laugh. 'Yeah, and then rejected you in front of the royal court while rambling on about her faithfulness to her late husband.' Keith was finally looking at Lance. 'I don't really know what to say', he confessed. 'Neither do I', Lance told him. 'But we still have to do this.'

'You already know how I feel', Keith grumbled. 'There's not much left for me to say. All you need to do is give me an answer.' 'I- uhm.' Lance was starting to get nervous, this wasn't really how Lance had imagine this confession would go. Keith must've misinterpreted Lance's nervousness. The small hopeful smile he had on his lips fell and he ducked his head away again. 'Never mind', Lance heard him say. 'I'm sorry for being unprofessional during the battle. Let's just pretend none of this ever happened.'

'W-what?' Lance sputtered. 'No, no, no. Jesus, Keith, at least give me a second to think of what I want to say!' 'I uhm,' He tried again. Why was he so nervous? He already knew that Keith wasn't going to reject him. Lance counted to three and tried to calm himself down. 'Before Voltron', he said at last, 'you've always seemed unreachable. You were always at the top of every class and weren't interested in anything or anyone except for flying and Shiro. You seemed standoffish and you were acted like an asshole when someone tried to talk to you.'

'Hey!' Keith protested. Lance shushed him. 'Let me finish', he said. 'But you were also pretty fucking cool so I wanted to be friends with you even though you probably didn't know I existed. You probably didn't know any of your classmates except for James, but that was only because he kept picking fights with you. Eventually I got really frustrated and my ambition to befriend you sort off turned into 'If he doesn't want to be my friend, then I'll make him regret it.' I guess that was when the whole rivalry thing started.' 'One-sided rivalry', Keith reminded him. Lance chose to ignore his comment. 'But then we got stuck in space and you actually turned out to be quite a decent guy. I knew we had to start working together and all, so I wanted to try and put the whole rival thing behind us. I had no idea how to do it though, and seeing you all riled up was actually kinda funny. Besides, it was easier to just keep on going, you know? But then we fought Zarkon and Shiro disappeared… Things changed. You became my leader, and I was your right hand man. I would've followed you anywhere. I trusted you with my thoughts and insecurities, it was like a bonding moment. I thought we'd gotten closer after that. And then you suddenly packed your stuff and left, as if you'd rather be anywhere else in the universe, rather risk your life on suicide missions with strangers than staying by my side. It _hurt_ , Keith. It really did.'

Lance could feel the tears pricking his eyes, the feeling of anger, sadness, anxiety, and longing that he'd suppressed flooded out all at once like water through a broken dam. 'I missed you', Lance continued, his voice uneven. 'I missed having someone to talk to, someone to hang out with. Hunk and Pidge had their science things. Allura, Coran, and Shiro's clone were always busy with the diplomatic side of the coalition. And I, I was only there to make sure we could still form Voltron.'

'I didn't want to leave', Keith said **.**

'Then why did you leave?' Lance asked bitterly. 'Because I didn't want you to step down', Keith confessed. 'I wasn't a good leader, and you said it yourself that you wouldn't return to the Blue lion because of Allura. I was the only one who could've stepped aside and still contribute to the war in another way. The Blade had already accepted me as one of their own. I might have left, but that doesn't mean that I wanted to… I barely survived most of the missions and got stuck on the back of a space whale for two years. It gave me time to think though. I only realised how much you meant to me when it was too late. I thought I'd never see the team again, that I'd never see _you_ again. So I promised myself that if I would ever see you again, telling you how I feel would be the first thing that I'd do.'

Lance frowned. 'But you didn't', he said. 'Why?'

Keith laughed bitterly. 'Because we were still in the middle of a war and once again the mission had to come first. By the time I'd mustered up all my courage, I saw you with Allura and I realised that I wouldn't stand a chance against her. You were in love with the princess, and I was just the idiot that fell for a straight guy.'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait', Lance said jumping to his feet, trying to process all the information. 'First of all, Allura and I, that isn't going to happen. Ever. Sure I had a crush on her, but those don't really last. Besides, she's become more like family to me.' Lance placed a hand on his hip. 'Second of all, who are you calling _straight?_ ' Keith looked taken aback. 'uhm.' 'I can't believe you', Lance said exasperatedly. 'You're the one who's always going on about our bonding moments! Haven't you notice all the comments people made? Have you missed all my mini meltdowns whenever you do anything that's just so _you._ '

'I thought I was reading too much into it', Keith muttered, his face reddening.

'I'm not exactly the most subtle person when it comes to these things', Lance told him. 'I'm pretty sure everyone in the universe knows about my raging crush on the black paladin of Voltron by now.'

'You-'

'I like you Keith', Lance said. 'I like you so much that I don't think I can even call it like anymore. So how's that for an answer?' Keith stayed silent for a moment. 'Maybe start with the answer before the whole speech next time.' He said with a teasing smile. Lance huffed. 'You're dating a McClain, you better get used to the emotional rants.' Keith Laughed. It was a genuine, full belly laugh. 'We've both been so stupid', he sighed. 'All of this could've been avoided.' 'Correction', Lance said. 'You've been stupid. I've been dropping hints like crazy.'

'Okay, okay, I'm sorry', Keith apologized. 'Let me make it up to you.'

'Oh?' Lance smirked. 'And how to you-' He was cut short when Keith yanked him down by the collar of his hood. Their noses were almost touching, Lance could feel the heat of Keith's breath. His own erratic heartbeat was so loud that Lance was certain that Keith could hear it too. 'I've been wanting to do this since forever.' Keith whispered before he closed the last remaining distance between them. The kiss started sweet, gentle, and a bit insecure. Both of them still barely believing that it was actually happening. Then the kiss deepened, their insecurities replaced by their longing and all the pent up frustrations that they were finally letting go. Lance steadied himself by placing his hands on the armrests of the pilot seat. Keith let go of Lance's hood and slowly wound his arms around neck.

'Ahem!' Lance jumped back, startled by the sudden sound. 'Can you hear me?' Lance's head snapped to Keith's helmet in the corner. 'Pidge?' 'I didn't want to interrupt your little moment, but I thought that you might want to know that your comms and visual communicator are still on and that we saw and heard everything.'

'What?!' Lance screeched at the same time Keith asked, 'Who is 'we'?'

'Wait, one sec', Pidge responded. A screen popped up and Lance could see the entire Voltron team and his family staring at him. 'Oh my god', Lance groaned, burying his face in his hands. This was the most embarrassing thing that could've happened to him. 'Couldn't you've said something earlier?'

'Believe me, I really wanted to', they answered. 'But Keith muted the audio and I couldn't turn your camera off from here. I'm still figuring out how the lions work so it took me a while to hack it, okay. And it wasn't easy with all these people screaming in my ear.'

'Lance!' Hunk exclaimed, making his way to the front of the group. 'Lance, buddy I'm so happy for you!'

'It's about time', Veronica added. 'It was driving me nuts seeing you guys dancing around each other like that.' The others nodded in agreement. 'Anyway, back to the important part', Pidge said turning to the team. 'It's time to pay up, bitches. I won the bet, Keith was the one who confessed first.' Coran, Hunk, and Allura begrudgingly handed Pidge and Shiro some money. Lance could see some of his family members exchange money as well.

'You guys bet on us?' Lance exclaimed. He was completely ignored.

'Keith, I'm glad you finally told Lance how you felt', Shiro said. 'I'm very proud of you.' Pidge held out a hand to Shiro. 'You still owe me twenty bucks.'

'I take it back', Shiro grumbled, handing the half of money he just won to Pidge. 'Keith you're a terrible brother. You just couldn't have waited until after the final battle, could you?' Lance heard Keith mutter something inaudible under his breath.

'Glad to see you alive and kicking again, little bro', Luis grinned as he took Pidge's place in front of the camera. 'But I have to be Marco's personal driver for the next month because of you so be ready to get your ass kicked.' 'How is that my fault?!' Lance argued.

'Congratulations!' Coran exclaimed suddenly. 'You've just become the most popular celebrity couple in the universe!'

'How?'

'Did you forget that the battle was being livestreamed? The cameras in the cockpits were also filming.' Lance couldn't believe what he heard. 'Someone-' they fake coughed- ' _Coran_ , also added the audio because it apparently shows that the paladins also have relatable problems such as crushes aside from world ending dramas.' _The entire universe_ heard _everything_ he told Keith. _Oh no,_ Lance thought. _Everyone in the universe saw me making out with Keith_.

'We cut off the livestream when you started kissing though', Pidge told him. 'For privacy and all.' Lance snorted. 'How considerate of you.' Keith deadpanned behind him. 'Hey, does this mean we have to change the room arrangements again? Marco asked. ' _M-Marco!_ ' Lance Sputtered, his cheeks were getting redder and redder by the second. 'We'll discuss that when they return.' His mother said with a wink. 'Now, let those boys have some actual privacy.' She gave Pidge a gentle nudge. 'We'll see you two at dinner', Maria told them before Pidge finally ended the connection on their side. Lance made sure to triple check that their camera was shut off too.

'I can't believe that just happened.' Lance said. 'I can't go back, not after what'd just happened. Remember the conversation we just had about flinging ourselves into the sun? That sounds like a good idea right now. No wait, let's go on a trip. A nice long trip. Just the two of us and our lions. We'll go somewhere far, far away from Earth or any kind of civilization.' 'Lance', Keith said, making his way over to Lance. 'As much as I want to do exactly that, you know we'll never be able to escape them.' Keith was right. The others would find them anywhere they went. Lance buried his face in Keith's chest. 'God, they're going to pester us nonstop during dinner, aren't they.'

'Definitely', Keith agreed, wrapping his arms around Lance. 'But it's worth it.'

'Yeah', Lance said, looking up at his boyfriend. 'It is.'


End file.
